In Between Worlds
by DianneRose2016
Summary: Challenge Fic full summary inside: Buffy dies at the end of Season 5, but what if instead of going to Heaven she doesn't go anywhere? Buffy is linked to Spike and spends her time dead as a ghost connected to Spike. No one can see or hear her. Buffy watches as Spike takes care of Dawn and goes through those 147 days on his own. But what will happen when Buffy is brought back?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Alright another challenge fic by Tempestt. Here is the challenge and the summary for my fic basically:**_

 _ **When Buffy dies at the end of The Gift she doesn't go to heaven or hell. Instead her ghostly ass gets chained to Spike. He can't see or hear her, but she witnesses everything he does. She sees his near suicidal misery and Dawn's concern for him. She sees him slowly pull himself together, but only because Dawn needs him. Through Spike's interaction with the Scoobies, Buffy sees how Tara becomes a maternal figure for Dawn while the others are lost in their grief. Spike becomes a surrogate big brother who teaches Dawn things that Buffy feels are completely inappropriate such as cheating at poker, picking locks, hotwiring a car, pool hustling, how to threaten a handsy boy with a switchblade. As the summer progresses she realizes that in his own twisted way, Spike is trying to teach Dawn to survive.**_

 _ **When Buffy is resurrected she isn't apathetic or angry because she wasn't in heaven, but she does see Spike in a new light. After spending 147 days entirely in his company, she finds herself craving his presence and a relationship grows between them. The scoobies react terribly and it comes to a head when she admits to being a ghost and seeing how much Dawn was pushed off onto Spike and how he cared for her.**_

 _ **I'd like to see Dawn being 'adopted' by a small part of the demon community, IE Spike's poker buddies.**_

 _ **An interlude just before Buffy gets resurrected where Spike tries to be intimate with a female demon but ends up breaking down entirely. The woman, knowing Spike was in love with the slayer (I can only imagine something like that would be huge gossip in Sunnydale) is sympathetic. A slightly jealous, but repressing Buffy who is witnessing the entire event finally comes to the conclusion that demons really can love, because the depth of his despair wouldn't be possible otherwise.**_

 _ **Story Warnings: Swearing, Drinking, Violence, Scoobie Hating, Sexual Situations, one small vague rape scene and Flashbacks of Torture.**_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Chapter 1

 **Day 1**

Buffy stood there looking around at her friends. She couldn't figure out what the hell their problem was. Everyone was alive, they all made it, they won. Yet everyone had these long and sad faces on them. She didn't get it.

"Guys, what the hell? We won. It's happy celebration time at the Bronze." Buffy said, but she was ignored.

They were all standing there looking down at something on some pile of rocks. Buffy was annoyed by the way her friends were acting so she went over to see what the hell everyone's problem was. She instantly frozen when she saw herself laying down on the pile of rocks. Buffy stood there in shock at seeing herself. She didn't understand what was happening, but that wasn't her. She wasn't dead. She was standing here alive. Something was wrong. Some kind of spell or something, because she wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead.

"That's not me. Guys that's not me." Buffy said, but once again she was ignored.

Buffy went over to Dawn and grabbed her only for her hands to go right through Dawn.

"What?" Buffy said confused.

"I can't believe she's really gone." Willow said softly with tears going down her face.

"I'm not gone Will. Come on you gotta be able to feel me here. You're a witch for crying out loud." Buffy said frustrated that no one seemed to be able to feel her around.

"She died for me. She wouldn't let me jump." Dawn said with tears going down her cheeks.

"It's my job to protect the world Dawnie, not yours. I would do it again, every time." Buffy said sadly at the sight of Dawn standing there all on her own.

That's when Buffy noticed that someone was missing. She didn't see Spike anywhere. She didn't know what happened to him during the fight, but she didn't think he would die. Buffy turned and scanned the area and she saw Spike barely walking towards the group. His face was covered in blood and his right leg looked shattered. He couldn't even stand on it. Buffy couldn't help, but go over to him as he collapsed on the ground. His eyes were still locked on her body there on the pile of rocks.

"Spike, what happened to you? How did you get this injured? Everyone else barely has a scratch on them. You're the best fighter besides me. How the hell did you get this hurt?" Buffy asked shocked at the level of injury Spike had from a fight against a group of followers.

Buffy didn't get an answer as even Spike couldn't hear her. She was shocked all over again when he broke down in tears at her death. Buffy was shocked silent. She had never seen a man break down like this ever in her life, much less a soulless vampire. She didn't know what to say to him, even if he could hear her. Buffy found herself reaching out to touch him, but remembering part way that her hand would just go straight through him. Buffy stayed there bent down in front of Spike just watching as he cried his heart out all over her death. She looked back at the others and saw that they were only shedding a few tears. Dawn was crying the most and no one was even holding her. She stood there crying all on her own, just like Spike was.

"Why aren't they hugging her? Why aren't they coming over here to make sure Spike is okay?" Buffy said to herself as she was the only one that could hear her voice.

After a few moments Giles cleared his voice and spoke.

"We need to get out of this area before anyone shows up."

"Ya" Xander said with a distant voice.

He slowly went over to Buffy's body and picked her up bridal style. Tara and Willow walked holding onto each other. Giles and Anya walked closer to each other with Dawn off to the side of Tara and Willow. Xander walked a little ahead of them.

"Wait, someone has to help Spike." Buffy said after the group. She chased after them, but once she got so far she hit an invisible wall. "What the hell?" Buffy said as she tried to keep walking, but she just couldn't no matter what she did. "Great so what I'm stuck here? I get to haunt the place that I died in forever?" Buffy asked confused and annoyed.

Buffy couldn't do anything, but stand there watching as her friends and her body got further and further away. Once she couldn't see them anymore she turned around to look at Spike. She didn't know how injured he was, but she did know that with his leg broken he wouldn't be able to go that far on his own. He was still crying and Buffy didn't know what to do. She went over and placed her hands on her hips.

"Come on Spike stop it. You need to get up and get your ass to your crypt. You have blood there, blood will make it better. You need to get up. You promised me you would protect her until the end of the world. Well guess what the end of the world didn't happen tonight so get up. You always keep your promises now get up." Buffy ordered, but of course had no effect on Spike.

Buffy let out an annoyed huff before she sat down on a rock.

"Great I can't touch anyone or even have them hear me, but yet somehow I can sit down on things. That makes no sense. Do you hear me world? That makes no sense!" Buffy yelled beyond frustrated.

Buffy crossed her arms and sat there with nothing else to do, but to listen to Spike's heart wrenching sobs for the next hour. When Spike finally pulled himself together he let out a shaky breath. Buffy watched as Spike slowly pushed himself up into a standing position, but he didn't last long. His body collapsed back down. Buffy let out a sympathetic moan at the level of pain Spike must have been in. She watched again as Spike stood half way up and stumble a few steps before falling down again. Buffy got up and walked over to Spike as he got back up. She knew she couldn't touch him or even walk with him. She would be at the end of her leash here in a minute, but she felt like she owed it to him to at least walk beside him. Even if she couldn't help him, she owed him that much. Spike stumbled into a building and he used that to hold himself up as he worked his way down. Buffy followed right beside him and was shocked that she was able to walk further than she had when her friends left. For the next forty minutes she walked beside Spike and was amazed at how many times his body collapsed, but he just got right back up. The problem was he had only managed to go five blocks in the forty minutes. At this rate he wasn't going to be able to make it back to his crypt in time for sunrise that was thirty minutes away and ticking.

Spike collapsed again and this time to Buffy's horror he threw up blood on the ground. Buffy didn't even know that vampires could throw up. Spike sat back and with a shaky hand moved his shirt up and Buffy couldn't believe the level of damage done to his stomach and chest. His whole torso was black and blue. She could see six different ribs poking through his skin and more broken inward. Buffy bent down with hurt all over her face. This level of damage was almost as bad as when Glory beat the hell out of him. Buffy's mind was racing trying to think of when Glory could have gotten to Spike, but she didn't. They were the ones fighting the whole time.

"How did this happen Spike?" Buffy asked softly.

"Bloody fall off that tower nearly killed me. I wish it had." Spike said softly.

"You can hear me?" Buffy asked with hopefulness in her voice.

"Got four organs completely destroyed gonna take months to grow back on the swine I'm drinkin'. Months of constant pain. What I deserve after failing her." Spike said with a great pain in his voice and Buffy knew that he hadn't actually heard her, but was just talking to himself.

"Spike I don't know what happened, but you didn't fail me. You fell off the tower getting to Dawn that's how you got so injured. Somehow you got thrown off, because you tried to get to Dawn. That guy that was up there with Dawn, you must have fought him and got thrown off." Buffy said as she realised how Spike was injured.

Spike took a shaky breath before he pushed himself to stand up and slowly make his way down the street once again. Buffy could see that he was getting weaker and weaker as he went on. Buffy watched as Spike finally made it to a payphone as the sun was rising in the sky. He collapsed onto it as he picked up the receiver and put two quarters in and dialed. Buffy waited to see who he was calling.

"Clem, I need you to pick me up. Eight and Main, I'll be in the building. Bring a blanket." Spike hung up the phone before he spoke to himself. "Hopefully he gets that soon. No clouds today."

Spike went over to one of the abandoned buildings that were on the corner. He broke the handle and stumbled inside. Buffy went with him inside and saw that there was windows all around the room except for this small corner in the room. It looked like it was just used as storage when this place was even open. It wasn't much bigger than the size of her living room. Spike went over to the corner where there was no windows and collapsed down to the ground. He was shaking and breathing heavy. He removed his jacket and covered himself up to his chest with it. He sat back and closed his eyes to try and get the pain under control.

"Why did they leave you?" Buffy asked as she sat down on an old wooden crate. "I mean I know they were in shock and not thinking clearly, but you came with us. How could they not look for you? If I hadn't died though, would I have looked for you? I'd like to think I would, but maybe I wouldn't have. Maybe it wouldn't have crossed my mind like it didn't theirs. You're pretty much just an annoyance to me. The vampire I can't kill because it would be like killing a rabid dog with no teeth. No point and not worth the effort. So maybe I wouldn't have checked to see if you were with us either."

Buffy sat there and watched Spike. He looked like he was sleeping and she was hoping that his friend would be here soon. It wouldn't be long before the sun was coming into the windows and eventually it would hit Spike. Buffy wanted to go and see her friends and Dawn and see how they were doing, but she didn't want to leave until she knew that Spike was fine. Once she knew that Spike was being taken care of she could go and check in on the others. She sat there for two hours watching the sun moving closer on the floor to Spike when finally the door opened and two men walked in. The one was clearly a demon. His skin was loose and hanging off of him and he had floppy ears. The other looked completely human and was carrying a blanket.

"Damn Spike." Clem said as he went over to Spike.

The other man did as well and he removed Spike's jacket and looked him over.

"He's seriously injured. We need to get him back to his crypt and get blood into him." The man said.

He took the blanket and wrapped Spike up in it before he picked Spike up bridal style and they both left the room. Buffy followed and saw the man place Spike into the back of a cargo van that had no side windows. She watched as he folded Spike's coat and placed it under his head as he spoke.

"You drive I need to see about his injuries." The man said to Clem.

Clem gave a nod and went over to the driver's side door and got in.

"Well he'll be fine. I now need to see Dawn and the others." Buffy said as the van took off.

The van didn't even get ten feet before Buffy found herself appearing in the van with Spike.

"Ok what the hell was that?" Buffy asked to no one.

The man continued to look Spike over and Buffy could see that the bruising got even worse since she saw it last time.

"Why isn't he waking up? He's a light sleeper he should be waking up." Clem said with worry.

"He's lost too much blood. His body is in a deep sleep, like a coma. He won't wake up until we get blood into him. Good part is that he won't be awake when I set his bones. Do you know what blood he has?"

"Pig most likely. He doesn't get human. Blood bank won't give out human blood to vamps unless the Slayer allows it. She doesn't though you know that." Clem said.

"Damian should know better though. The Slayer will l never allow it. Spike should be that exception with being a Master and on the side of good." The man said.

"I know. He's saved that guys life over a hundred times in the last couple of years, but unless the Slayer gives the okay he can't get any." Clem said.

"He needs human blood to heal. Animal blood will only keep him alive. It weakens his strength and makes him more tired. The Slayer wants to use him as her personal weapon than maybe she should make sure her weapon is in top condition. Seven packages of human blood a week is all he needs to be in perfect shape. This could have been avoided." The man said with annoyance in his voice as he pushed Spike's ribs back inside his chest.

"Well how would I know that? He's not my weapon either he's just useful every now and then. Besides he's fine on animal blood. The blood in the blood banks are for humans that need it to survive. Not for hungry vampires." Buffy said annoyed and defensive.

"She won't though. Slayers haven't been kind to demons in sixty years. It's why we all have to hide and live underground. So many of us good ones have been killed it makes a demon nervous." Clem said.

"Being around that Slayer and these humans will get him killed. Why he constantly involves himself with humans I'll never understand. He does it too often." The man said.

"He's done it before." Clem said.

"It always happens. He comes across a human and something in him connects to that human. He goes out of his way to protect them only to be destroyed when they die. He raised a human child for three years while her mother was in a coma and recovering. When they were both killed by a pack of vampires he lost it. Slaughtered them all before shutting himself down to everyone. He was depressed for a year, he wouldn't even leave his house. These humans he's around will get him killed." The man said with frustration and sadness in his voice.

"He was probably getting something out of taking care of that kid. Why else would a soulless and dangerous vampire do that?" Buffy said trying to rationalize Spike's actions instead of facing the facts.

"Is it true what they say about him? He never talks about it." Clem asked.

"That would depend on what they say" The man said.

"That he was made wrong. I got family that was in the Initiative the same time as Spike. Spike was there for a week and they tortured him more, called it experiments, but it was torture. My cousin overheard that lady doctor, the one in charge, talking to a few others in lab coats and that boyfriend of the Slayer. She said that Spike's body reacted differently than other demons or vampires. His body reacted like he was a human. That the emotional half of his brain still functioned normally. My cousin thought it was sad, because it made them torture him more, especially that boyfriend of the Slayer. He was brutal to Spike. My Cousin said that it was sad though because if Spike wasn't made right that meant he didn't really belong anywhere. Too human for the vampires and too dead for the humans. It's sad when you think about it. I've never noticed before, but it does make sense with who he is. You've known him longer than me thought maybe you asked or he said something." Clem explained.

"Really? How is that even possible? How can a vampire be made wrong?" Buffy said confused and really wishing someone could have answered her.

"He doesn't talk about it and I've never asked. That boyfriend of the Slayer was a real piece of work though. Did ya know he came by afterwards when Spike caught him in a bite house, he staked Spike right in the middle of his heart with a plastic wood grain stake. Blamed Spike for his own mistakes. It took everything in me not to go find him and beat the hell out of him. It's good he's gone, caused too much trouble." The man said with anger in his voice.

"What? No he must have lied, Riley would never do something like that. That can't be true." Buffy said with denial in her voice.

"I didn't know that, but Spike doesn't always tell me everything. He keeps a lot to himself. He's gotten more guarded over the years, been hurt and betrayed too many times. I get it." Clem said with a shrug as he pulled up behind Spike's crypt.

Once the van stopped the man covered up Spike once again while Clem came around to open the doors before leaving to open the front door to Spike's crypt. The man picked Spike up and walked quickly around to the front. Buffy followed figuring it was better than sitting in the van by herself. Plus she was hearing some serious gossip about Spike. Once inside they took Spike down to the lower level and placed him down on the bed. The man then removed the blanket as he spoke.

"I need to get some blood for him at the hospital. Stay here in case someone comes by. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'll clean up some of the blood off him and see if he has any up in the fridge that I can get him started on." Clem said.

"I'll bring an infusion kit just in case he can't stomach it with his state." The man said.

"He'll hate that."

"We might not have a choice until his body is more healed. A few bags of human blood right into his veins will heal him quicker. Then he should be able to drink it. He's so deep into the sleep state he won't even notice." The man reassured Clem.

Clem gave an unsure nod and the man headed out of the basement with Clem behind him.

"Well you are clearly going to be okay so I'm leaving now." Buffy said hoping that it would work this time.

Buffy turned and headed for the ladder, but once she reached it she found herself hitting an invisible wall once again. She let out a frustrated yell before she look up and spoke.

"Seriously? Why? Why? Why is Spike the only one I seem to be able to be around? What kind of sick and twisted Hell is this? I get to be a spook and haunt Spike for the rest of his unlife? He could live for centuries if he's lucky. Come on I want to see my friends, my family, the people I love. I don't want to stand around looking at Spike!"

Buffy went to punch the dirt wall, but found her fist went right through.

"Ya sure that makes perfect sense. I can lean or sit on things, but I can't hit anything. What is this Bizzarro World?"

Buffy turned around as Clem was making his way back down the ladder with a blood package. She went over and leaned against Spike's dresser and looked around.

"It's not that bad down here. Didn't really notice last time." Buffy said as she took everything in.

Clem went over to the bed as he spoke.

"Okay Spike Buddy you gotta drink this otherwise Der is going to put a needle in your arm and you are going to hate it. So drink up for me, all you gotta do is swallow so we know you can."

Clem put the package of blood to Spike's mouth and opened his mouth a little. He had cut the corner out of the package so the blood would come out slowly. He didn't want to make Spike choke or anything. He let a little bit out, but Spike didn't react to it at all.

"Come on Spike, swallow the blood Buddy." Clem pleaded as he rubbed Spike's neck to try and get the muscles awake and working.

"You've done this before for him. I wonder when? Spike doesn't seem like the type of vampire to get injured that badly often. Sure he gets injured, but not so badly that he can't drink his blood himself. I wonder how long you've been friends." Buffy said as she observed the two of them.

Clem let out a disappointed sigh and took the blood back and placed it down on the bedside table as Spike wasn't drinking it.

"Well Buddy, I'm sorry for Der and me putting in a needle. I know you'll hate it, but it has to be done. We can't just let you die. He'll be back soon and after a few pints of good human blood you'll be able to drink it on your own. I'll pick you up some whiskey and some hot wings and we can hang out watching some movies. You'll feel all better in no time. You can tell me what happened and everything will be alright. You'll be back out there fighting in no time." Clem said trying to sound hopeful, but Buffy could hear the pain and sadness in his voice.

"Wow you really care about him. But you're a demon, you shouldn't be able to care. But Spike shouldn't have cried like that either earlier. He was more broken up over my death than my own friends were. But demons and vampires can't feel, they can't care. Everyone knows that, Giles knows that he taught me that. He wouldn't have if it wasn't true. Yet, you clearly care about him." Buffy rubbed her hands over her face before she continued. "Ahh, too much thinking. I'm dead I shouldn't have to think. Isn't that a rule somewhere? You die you don't have to think or figure things out when they don't matter anymore. I'm dead nothing I learn here will be helpful to me or to anyone as I am dead. I should be in Heaven right now with my mom, not sitting here with Spike. God this sucks." Buffy crossed her arms and was clearly pouting. But she had died to save the world she deserved to pout for a few good minutes about her current situation. Like how she only seemed to be able to go where Spike is. It was the worst punishment ever.

Buffy sat there while they waited for the other guy, Der, to come back from the hospital. Buffy was getting the feeling that Der wasn't as human as she thought he was. She didn't know what type of demon he was as she had never seen a demon that could look human before. She could have asked Giles if it wasn't for the fact she was currently dead. It was an hour when Der came back down the ladder. He went over to Spike and got the infusion ready. Buffy wanted to ask why a vampire would have a problem with an infusion, but again no one could hear her.

"How long will he need that?" Clem asked with worry.

"A day at most. We just need to get enough blood into him to get his body interested in drinking the blood. There's more blood in his fridge for later. One of us will need to stay with him at all times to make sure he's getting enough blood in him until he's awake and able to do it."

"I'll stay with him. I just need to change the blood package when it's empty right?"

"That's it." Der said as he inserted the needle into Spike's arm and placed the bag up on a nail coming through the dirt. "His bones are all set, now he just needs blood. I have to get home to my very pregnant wife. Let me know if you need any more blood."

"Thanks Der."

"I'll come by tomorrow to check in. I might know more about what happened to him."

"Ok I'll see you tomorrow."

Der gave Clem a pat on the back before he turned and headed out of the basement and up the ladder. Buffy sat there and watched as Clem put a blanket over Spike's body as he spoke.

"I know you hate being cold. You normally live in a place with a fireplace. Never understood how you even felt cold, but you always do."

"Vampires don't get cold, they don't feel the temperature. But they also don't cry when someone dies. They also don't react the same way to pain that humans do, but Professor Walsh said Spike does. Maybe he was made wrong, but how would that even happen? Great, more questions that will never be answered." Buffy said.

Clem went over and grabbed one of the chairs that was in the room and moved it over to be closer to Spike. He sat down and waited for when he could do something for Spike. Buffy had no choice, but to sit and wait with him as for some reason she seemed to be linked to Spike.

 **Day 7**

"Seriously? It's been seven days. How can he still be asleep after seven days of getting human blood? He looks healed to me, so why isn't he waking up? And why hasn't anyone come here to check on him? I mean okay I get it I died, but still they should have come by the next day to check in on him and make sure he was alive. I would have, even if it was to thank him for helping out. He didn't exactly have to. God just wake up already Spike so you can walk out of here and go see my friends, because then I can go and see my friends." Buffy said as she paced around with her hands on her hips.

She was beyond bored and frustrated. In the past week all she had been able to do is be stuck down here in what Spike had setup as his bedroom. She couldn't even go up the freaking ladder. Every time she tried she hit an invisible wall. It was frustrating because she just wanted to check in on Dawn and her friends. She wanted to make sure they were alright. The problem was all week the only people who came to see Spike was Clem or Der. One of them always stayed right by his bed feeding him. After that first day they were able to get Spike to drink the blood, but he wouldn't wake up. She could tell they were getting worried at how long Spike was taking to wake up. Buffy was brought out of her rant when Der walked down the ladder and over to Clem.

"Nothing yet?" Der asked.

"No. Why isn't he waking up?" Clem asked with worry.

"I went by the Butchers on a hunch. He's been on animal blood for over a year now. He hasn't had any human blood or anything stronger than pig's blood. The Butcher can only issue so many animal blood packages out a week to the public and there are a lot of humans that buy it because of rituals or spells. He can't hold any back unless the Slayer states he can for a specific vampire and as we know the Slayer doesn't do that or didn't do that I should say. He's only been getting enough for three packages a day." Der answered.

"No wonder he's been so tired and weaker. His body doesn't have enough to keep going on just three a day. With animal blood he needs double that at least. It's nowhere near as strong as human blood. That's why he's still out." Clem said with understanding in his voice.

"His body was pushed too far and now it is trying to recover from the damage the animal blood did to him. It pisses me off. He's been helping the Slayer for over a year now. She's been using him just like some weapon in her trunk and when she doesn't find him useful she tosses him aside. She should have been looking out for him if she was going to be using him like this. Seven packages of human blood a week, one a day, would be enough to keep him at full health and strength. He would have stood a chance against this Hell God. He could have beaten her if the Slayer had gotten off her high horse and done something about it." Der said with anger.

"Hey I didn't know here. It's not my fault. He didn't exactly open his mouth and mention any of this to me. I… ok I wouldn't have believed him, but still you can't blame me for this. I'm dead here." Buffy said.

"The Slayer didn't know about any of this." Clem said.

"Thank-you. Finally someone who understands." Buffy said exasperated.

"She didn't care to either. She just blindly followed the orders of her Watcher and friends. Being human was more important to her than doing what was right by everyone. Her world was so perfectly black and white. She had no idea just what her purpose was truly about. She had a powerful and valuable warrior right there beside her and she did everything to keep him weak and feeling like nothing more than dirt there for her to step on and kick whenever the mood called for it."

"He tried to kill me multiple times. He tried to kill my friends multiple times. And you want me to what? Be friends with him because the Government made it so he couldn't hurt anyone. I don't like him. I don't like people who try and kill me and my friends. He wouldn't leave town though so what else was I supposed to do, besides use him when the need called for it. That doesn't make me a bad person." Buffy said offended at Der's words.

"He's use to abuse you know that. He's been abused by somebody his whole life and unlife. That's just normal to him. If someone treats him with kindness he doesn't understand. It doesn't matter how many times I'm there for him he doesn't understand why. All this cocky arrogance is just a front you know that. Something to help keep the pain pushed down." Clem said sadly.

"You know that and I know that, but others don't. Angelus was the worst. The amount of torture and rape he put Spike through for two decades. If I was a violent demon I would have killed him for the continuous torture he still puts Spike through." Der said with venom dripping from his voice.

"Angel would never torture anyone. He has a soul now. Whatever happened in the past when he didn't doesn't matter, because that's not who he is anymore." Buffy automatically said in Angel's defense.

"He still has all of Spike's money and accounts in his name. I keep telling Spike to go and demand him to sign it back over to him. It's his money, his family's money. And there Angel is holding it hostage from him. It's why he's living here and getting furniture from the dump. He won't go and see him. Too many painful memories whenever he sees him, especially since the chip. He's back to feeling vulnerable and defenseless. He won't go see Angel unless he has no other choice. I mean we're talking millions of dollars sitting in accounts that Angel is keeping from him. Forced him through endless torture until he signed the papers almost a century ago. People really have no idea just what he went through, what he deals with." Clem said sadly.

"Angel wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that." Buffy said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"The vampire that doesn't belong." Der said sadly.

Spike let out a groan and everyone's attention snapped right to him. Spike slowly opened his eyes and Buffy was so thankful that he was finally awake. She was hoping that meant that he would get up and go out and see the others. She had been going insane all week not knowing how they were doing, not being able to see them.

"Hey Spike, how ya feeling?" Clem asked with a warm smile.

"Tired. How long?" Spike asked with a gravelly voice.

"You've been out cold for a week now. We've been giving you human blood. I had to give you an infusion for the first day of it. You weren't responding to blood at all." Der answered.

Spike gave a groan at hearing he had to have an infusion. He hated those, all vampires did. Unless you had some eating disorder that got carried over to the afterlife.

"I know I'm sorry, but we didn't have a choice." Der said apologetically.

"It's okay mate. Only you two been by?" Spike asked and everyone could tell he was still very much weak right now.

"Just us. It's been crazy out there. Word got around that the Slayer is dead. How is unclear though. You got hurt in the fight?" Clem asked gently.

"Ya. Fell 'bout ten stories off a tower. Hell God was going to go back home by openin' a portal to her Hell dimension, bringin' Hell on Earth. I lost a fight and Buffy died cause of it." Spike said with hurt in his voice.

"It's not your fault Spike. You haven't been a hundred percent in a long time. It's not your fault you lost that fight. It's not your fault that this Hell God decided she was going to try and destroy the world. It's not your fault the Slayer died." Der said gently trying to get Spike to understand.

"The others, the Bit, is she okay? Do you know?" Spike asked and it was clear he wasn't going to be listening to them about whose fault it was.

"We haven't seen her. Word is that only the Slayer died that night and the Hell God and her minions have disappeared. Safe to say she is dead and most of her minions are as well. I set your breaks and they have pretty much healed. Your leg will be sore still and you won't be able to hold all of your weight on it just yet. Your ribs are almost healed as well. There is also more blood in your fridge." Der answered.

"Baby yet?" Spike asked as he fought to keep his eyes open.

"Not yet. And if she doesn't have it soon I am going to lose my mind." Der said with a warm smile.

"Take her on a fast trip on a bumpy road." Spike said.

"I might have to try that." Der agreed.

"You should go home, both of you. I'm fine now." Spike said and they could tell he wasn't in the mood for company.

"If you need anything you know where we will be." Der said.

"I'll come by to check in on you tomorrow. Feel better buddy." Clem said as he patted Spike's right forearm.

"Best thing for you is rest and blood." Der said.

"I know. Thanks." Spike said to the both of them.

"See you tomorrow." Clem said with a warm smile.

They both turned and headed out of the basement and out of the crypt. Buffy went over and sat down on the edge of the bed facing Spike.

"I know you're tired, but if you could find the strength to just get up and check in on Dawnie and the others that would be great." Buffy said with a sweet smile.

Unfortunately for Buffy Spike couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and he was once again pushed under the darkness. Buffy let out a sigh as Spike was back to being asleep. She knew he was injured, but she really wanted to know how Dawn and her friends were doing and the only way to do that was for Spike to do it. She didn't want to wait any longer. Buffy got up off the bed and began to pace around with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Is it too much to ask to be sent to Heaven? I mean really how many times have I saved the world from ending? How many people have I saved from being killed by a vamp or a demon? Is it too much to ask that I could have been granted my eternal peace after everything I have done for this world? No I get to be a ghost and stuck to Spike of all people. Not even Dawn, my sister. No Spike the biggest pain in my ass I have ever come across."

Buffy hated this, she hated every second she had to spend stuck here while Spike slept. She hated that for God knows how long she would be trapped with Spike and be stuck watching his sick and evil ways. This was the last place Buffy wanted to be and she was stuck here no matter how badly she wanted to leave. Buffy went to kick a bottle that was on the ground only to have her foot go right through it. Buffy rolled her eyes at not being able to properly let out her frustration. She was in another form of Hell.

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It wasn't until a few hours later after sunset did Buffy hear the crypt's door opening and being slammed shut. Buffy was hoping that it would be one of her friends and not one of Spike's. She wanted to see her friends and Dawn so badly that it hurt. She was shocked when she saw Angel drop down the hole in the floor. Buffy couldn't help, but smile at the sight of him. She wanted so badly to go over there and hug him, but she forced herself to stay still, knowing that she would just go right through him.

"Angel." Buffy said with a dreamy smile at seeing the man she would always love.

Angel obviously didn't hear her and he went over to the bed with pure anger radiating off from him. Buffy watched in shock at Angel as he went and grabbed Spike by the biceps and threw him out of his bed and into the wall. Spike woke up just before his body crashed into the wall on the other side of the room.

"Angel, what the hell are you doing?" Buffy asked with anger as she stood up.

Spike coughed up blood as he looked over and saw Angel stalking towards him as he spoke.

"It's your fault. She's dead because of you." Angel growled out before he kicked Spike right in the ribs with all his strength.

Spike groan from the pain, but Angel didn't care. He grabbed Spike and threw him into the other wall. Before going over there to Spike and punching him across the face.

"Stop it! It's not his fault!" Buffy yelled shocked that Angel was doing this and blaming Spike.

Angel couldn't hear her though so he continued to punch and kick Spike with everything that he had. Spike didn't even have the strength to fight back, all he could do was take it.

"It's your fault the woman I love is dead." Angel growled out.

Spike coughed up more blood before he spoke with a weak and raspy voice.

"You should have been there than. You shouldn't have ran away like a coward."

"Coward?" Angel said as he kicked Spike right in the stomach. "I did what was right. I did what she deserved. She deserved to have a normal life. To be in the sunlight and you took that from her."

Angel grabbed Spike's broken leg and pulled him away from the wall. Spike groan as the pain shot up his leg from it being jostled around. Angel got down on his knees so he could punch Spike across the face a few times. Spike laid there on the ground unable to move or even defend himself. His mind was swimming from the pain that his still injured body was in.

"You're a disgrace to the family, you've always been. A freak in the demon world. Not evil enough to be a proper vampire, but not good enough to be human. Not alive enough. I should have killed you the second Drusilla brought you home. You took the woman I love from me. You got her killed and now you have to pay for it." Angel took out a stake from his coat pocket and stabbed Spike with it right in his right shoulder. It went right through and almost into the ground. Spike let out a small scream at the pain.

"Angel stop this please. He didn't do anything wrong." Buffy said even though Angel couldn't hear her. She didn't know why he was acting like this. It wasn't Spike's fault for what happened to her.

Angel went and grabbed Spike's jeans and pulled hard enough that they ripped right off. Buffy went still at seeing it.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked with fear in her voice.

"You need to pay for what you did to her. For killing her. Killing the woman I love." Angel said as he undid his own pants and to Buffy's horror he was already stone hard.

"You're enjoying this. Enjoying hurting him." Buffy said with a shaky voice.

"Stop." Spike said weakly with a heavy breath.

"Shut up and take your punishment." Angel said as he pushed Spike so he was on his stomach pushing the stake even further in his shoulder.

"Don't do this." Buffy said shaking slightly at the sight in front of her.

Angel shoved right inside of Spike causing Spike to let out a scream from the pain radiating throughout his body. Buffy put his hand over her mouth in shock and disgust at what Angel, the man that she loves, was doing to Spike. Spike didn't even have the strength to fight back against him. Spike had almost died to try and save Dawn, it wasn't his fault for what happened. Buffy didn't blame him. She knew that there was a good chance that she could die fighting Glory. She accepted that every time she went out the door at night. Accepted that any night she walked out the front door she might not come back home. She knew that and she accepted that a long time ago. She didn't blame anyone for what happened, especially Spike. He tried his best. She knew that he would have done his best because it was Dawn's life on the line. He didn't deserve this, no one did.

"You know what I've always enjoyed about you Willie? How your body can react to pain just like a human. The smell of that sweet fear that comes off from you. I forgot how much fun it is with you." Angel growled out as he continued to violently thrust into Spike.

"This isn't happening." Buffy said as she turned and tried to walk away, but there really wasn't anywhere she could go. She was trapped down here, because Spike was. "You wouldn't do this. You're supposed to be good, to have a soul. How can you do this to him? This isn't happening." Buffy was shaking all over now at the realisation that Angel, the man that she loves, was not the man she thought he was. He was supposed to be good. He wasn't supposed to be like this anymore. It was like Angelus was here all over again, only he wasn't. Angel was here, Angel who had a soul. Angel that had beaten a weak Spike and was now raping him. He was enjoying it, he was getting off on the pain and fear of it. Like a monster.

Buffy turned and saw Angel vamp out and tore into Spike's neck. Spike yelled as Angel savagely tore into Spike's neck while his thrusts got even more erratic and faster. After a few moments he grunted and his hips stopped. Angel let go of Spike's neck and Spike was barely conscious. His neck was bleeding heavily and it looked like he was attacked by a lion or some other huge wild animal. Angel pulled out of Spike and Buffy felt sick at the sight of the amount of blood that was pouring out of Spike. Angel got up and did his pants back up as he licked his lips.

"You'll always be worthless Willie. Always be nothing. I'll always be better than you. Next time I'm in town, you better be so far underground that not even the rats can find you. Because if I find you, I'm not going to stop until you beg me to kill you." Angel said with a deadly tone.

"You're a monster." Buffy said with disgust and hatred in her voice as she looked at Angel with tears in her eyes.

Angel turned and headed up the ladder and out of the crypt. Buffy saw that Spike was fighting to keep his eyes open. He was loosing blood, a lot of it, and Spike didn't have much extra to lose. He had just woken up from being in a coma basically for a week. His body couldn't take this pain to go with it. Buffy went over to Spike and bent down so she was closer to him. She went to touch him, but stopped herself. She couldn't even touch him, she couldn't even help him. The man that she loves, or thought she loved, just beat the hell out of him and raped him, and she couldn't even comfort or help him. She couldn't tell him that it wasn't his fault. She couldn't help him get cleaned up. She couldn't get him blood. She couldn't touch him. She couldn't do a single thing. Buffy had never felt so helpless before in her whole life as she did in this moment.

"It's okay Spike. I'm so sorry." Buffy said as a few tears went down her cheeks.

Spike was shaking in pain and he had a few tears going down his face. Spike felt like his whole body was on fire. He knew he needed to get the bleeding to stop or he was going to be in serious danger. He had to get into the shower and get the cold water going so it would slow down and stop the bleeding. Spike very slowly forced his body to move. He couldn't stand though with his leg so he slowly crawled over to the bathroom with his legs dragging behind him. Buffy walked with him and felt horrible at seeing Spike trying to get to the washroom, something Buffy didn't even know he had until she came down here a week ago. Once in the bathroom Spike reached up and turned the cold water on all the way for the shower. Spike dragged himself into the shower that was just cement walls on three sides. He leaned back against the one wall where the water would hit him. He tensed and let out a hiss as the cold water hit his bruised and bloody body. Spike hated the cold, he always had. This was just more torture on him. Buffy bent down so she was closer to Spike. Spike moved his left hand and grabbed the stake and pulled it out as quickly as he could, unfortunately, it was not as fast as he would have liked. Buffy moved her hands to help once again going on instinct and not remembering that she couldn't help. Once the stake was out Spike tossed it aside slightly, not having the energy or strength to do much else.

"My fault." Spike said weakly as his eyes closed and a few tears came down his bruised cheeks.

"No it's not Spike. I wish I could tell you that; make you understand that you did nothing wrong." Buffy said sadly as she had her own tears going down her cheeks.

Buffy wanted to help Spike, but she couldn't do anything. So she did the only thing she could think of. She sat down there on the floor and stayed with Spike while he passed out in the shower with the cold water slowly turning from red to light pink to clear once again.

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It was six hours later when Spike gained consciousness once again. He was shivering and his lips had a slight blue tint to them. The cold water was still coming out and he groaned at the pain that registered in his mind. The cold water had made him stiff and the pain even worse. He was no longer bleeding, but he was also extremely weak from the blood loss. Spike was trying his best to keep his eyes open, but it was becoming harder and harder to do so. Spike forced his eyes to stay open. He knew he had to move if he wanted to live. The problem was he didn't really want to live right now. He wanted to just die. The only reason he wasn't giving in was because of his stubbornness of granting Angel the satisfaction of killing him. Spike dragged himself out of the bathroom and back to his bed. He pulled himself into bed and reached over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. He picked up the whiskey bottle from it and he unscrewed the cap and took a very long pull from the bottle. After taking a long drink Spike put the bottle down on the nightstand and laid down. His whole body was shaking from the pain and cold and he just let the darkness come down on him. Buffy sat down on the bed beside Spike and just sat there watching over him. She couldn't do anything to help or protect him, but it made her feel better to be there with him. Maybe he wouldn't feel so alone.

It wasn't until the next night did Buffy hear the door upstairs opening. Spike had been awake a few times throughout the day, but that was only to drink the whiskey and not go up and get some blood. Buffy figured that with his injuries he wouldn't be able to actually get up the ladder and get some blood. Buffy heard some movement around upstairs and she figured that it was one of Spike's friends here and not someone else. Buffy was still hoping that someone would come by and see Spike, but so far none of her friends had. After a few minutes someone came down the ladder and Buffy saw that it was Clem and Der once again. Clem had a mug in his hand with blood Buffy assumed. They both walked over to Spike and immediately noticed the new injuries on Spike and the now empty whiskey bottle on the nightstand.

"What the hell happened?" Der asked with anger as he went to the bed to look Spike over. "Spike, Spike wake up." Der said.

Spike groaned at being woken up and he opened his eyes slightly and saw Der standing there.

"Der." Spike said with a weak voice.

"Spike what happened?" Der asked with worry.

"Angelus." Spike answered weakly as he forced himself to keep his eyes open.

"You need to drink this blood. You're too weak." Der said as he took the mug of blood away from Clem.

Der wasn't even gonna give Spike a chance to argue. He placed his hand under Spike's head and brought the mug to Spike's mouth. Slowly Spike drank the blood and once the mug was empty Der lowered Spike's head and he placed the mug down on the nightstand.

"You need to be drinking more blood Spike." Der said.

Spike hummed as his eyes were already closed and Der knew that he wasn't going to be awake for any longer. Der let out a sigh as he looked over at Clem.

"Can you stay here for a few days and make sure he's drinking enough?"

"Ya totally." Clem easily agreed.

"He needs to be drinking a mug every two hours, even if he doesn't want to. It's the only way he's going to heal." Der said.

"I'll make sure he does. Don't worry, just focus on your wife." Clem said with an easy smile.

"Who is going to pop any day now. Ok I need to get some more ice cream and head home. Be safe." Der said as he looked back at Spike clearly concerned for his safety as well.

"We will. Go home to your wife. He wouldn't want you to be away from her, not when she is so very pregnant." Clem said.

"I know. I just hate this. Alright I'll come by and check in and bring more blood."

"We'll be fine, go." Clem said.

"Thanks." Der said before he left and headed up the ladder and out of the crypt.

Clem went and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"Here we are again." Buffy said to Clem even though he couldn't hear her.

Buffy didn't know how long it would take for Spike to heal, but she was hoping that soon he would be able to leave and go see her friends or Dawn. Buffy was also hoping that one of them would come by at some point to check in on Spike. She wanted so badly to see them and make sure they were okay, because Spike clearly wasn't. The problem was all Buffy could do now was just wait and see how Spike would heal. Waiting, not something Buffy was very good at, but she didn't have a choice. All she could do was wait.


	2. Follow Me- Update

Hello there!

I have begun a collection of new books for all ages from children's picture books to adult series that are being published online. You can connect with me and find out more information through my social media pages. I am working on finishing my novel called Satanic Inferno. It will be published through Kobo on March 1st, 2017. Check out my Facebook page for more information and a 10% discount code for the first few days of the release.

You have all followed me on Fanfiction and I am hoping you will continue to follow me now that I have transitioned into writing and publishing my own novels. But fear not I am still going to be working on Fanfiction and finishing all of my stories. I'm not going anywhere in that sense. All support would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you so much to all of my loyal followers. Without you none of this would have been possible! If you have any questions or would like a sneak peek of my novel please Message me and I will send it your way.

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	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Day 14**

It had been fourteen days since Buffy had died. She had spent the past fourteen days stuck in Spike's crypt while he healed from his fall off the tower and from Angel's attack. No one had come by except for Der and Clem. Der's wife had given birth to twins three days ago. Something Spike was happy to see. The three of them seemed to be really close. Something Buffy never thought about before. She never wondered what Spike's life was like. She never wondered if he had friends. She never thought of him as anything more than some vampire who wasn't worth the time of her day. Now for fourteen days, she has been trapped here with him when all she wants to do is go and see her friends and Dawn. So far all Spike had done was sleep, drink blood and get drunk. Buffy knew she shouldn't hold it against him but still; she was getting annoyed at this point. Yes, Spike was injured from the fall and Angel, and yes Spike had every right to be upset and hurt by what Angel did. At the same time, though, he was a vampire. He should have been able to bounce back faster from it. Buffy didn't know how she felt about all of this. She didn't know what it meant that Spike seemed to be able to be more human than other vampires. She didn't know how she felt about the way Angel acted towards Spike. What Angel did was wrong, but Buffy didn't know how to feel about it. She was horrified and disgusted by it, but would he have done the same thing if Spike was human. A part of her brain was screaming yes, that she was an idiot and needed to open her eyes. Another part of her brain, the part that was trained by the Council, told her that Spike didn't matter because he wasn't human. It was all confusing to Buffy.

One thing she did know was that Spike needed to leave this place before she lost her mind. If she was going to be stuck haunting Spike the least, he could do was go and see people, mainly her friends and sister. It was night time already, and Spike was just sitting there in his chair with a whiskey bottle in his hand. He still had some bruising on him, and his stomach seemed to be hurting him as well. He still had some organs that were regrowing and repairing. Spike was back to having to drink pig's blood as Der couldn't get his hands on any more human blood. It would take him a few months to be fully healed on the pig's blood, but Spike couldn't do anything about that.

"Really Spike? It's been fourteen days. Come on now go outside and see someone. This is ridiculous." Buffy said as she paced around the room.

Just like all the other times though, Spike didn't hear her, couldn't hear her. Buffy had no choice, but to wait it out and hope that eventually he left or someone came to him. Buffy was brought out of her thoughts when the door to this crypt opened, and Dawn walked in. Buffy instantly felt joy and relief at seeing her sister finally. It had been fourteen days since she had said goodbye to her sister up on that tower and now she was finally seeing her. Only the joy she felt soon vanished at the sight of her sister. She looked exhausted; Buffy could see the black bags under her eyes from where she stood. Dawn's hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and she was wearing slightly dirty jeans and a shirt with just a sweater. Buffy could tell she was struggling and Buffy instantly wondered what the past fourteen days had been like for her. The sound of his door opening had Spike turning in his chair. He was just as shocked to see Dawn as Buffy was. Spike stood up as he spoke.

"Niblet."

Dawn instantly burst into tears at hearing Spike's nickname for her. Spike instantly went over to her and pulled her into his arms. Dawn cried into his chest, and Spike spoke.

"It's okay Niblet."

Spike continued to hold onto Dawn as she cried. Buffy felt heartbroken at seeing her sister so torn up about her death. She didn't want Dawn to mourn her; she wanted her to live. That's why she jumped. She didn't like seeing her sister in pain. After ten minutes Dawn finally calmed down, and she pulled back from Spike. Spike took his hands and gently wiped the tears from Dawn's cheeks away.

"What's all this about Bit? Big Sis?" Spike asked gently.

"Partly. It's been a hard two weeks. I didn't notice how hard it's been until I saw you."

"Sit and talk to me Bit. What's going on?" Spike said as he guided Dawn over to the couch. Buffy moved closer to listen, even though she had no trouble hearing where she was. She wanted to hug her sister, just touch her in some way, but she couldn't. Dawn sat down on the couch, and Spike sat down on the small coffee table in front of her.

"When was the last time you ate? I can hear your belly growin' from here."

"I ate some toast yesterday morning. The last real meal I've eaten was with Buffy I guess before everything went crazy."

"Why haven't you eaten anythin'?" Spike asked gently, but he wasn't really prepared for the answer.

"There's not really any food. And I don't have any money. It's all in Buffy's name, and I don't have access to those accounts, Willow does."

"Where the Bloody Hell is Red then? Why is there no food?" Spike asked with anger.

"Seriously? Why the hell is there no food in the house?" Buffy asked with her own anger at the condition Dawn had been living in.

"There's no food because no one's really been around since Giles left after the funeral."

"Wait Giles left?" Buffy asked shocked.

"What do you mean the Watcher left?" Spike asked.

"He went back to England right after the funeral. It's just been me at the house. Tara has been by a few times before she had to go to school."

"So you've just been on your own for two weeks?" Spike asked with anger and hurt in his voice.

"There's no way. They wouldn't just leave her on her own. They wouldn't do that to me," Buffy said with denial in her voice with hurt edging it.

"Ya. I've cooked what food I could and just been on my own. The water got turned off two days ago. I haven't been able to do any laundry or shower, brush my teeth, nothing. I know you're hurt and sad, but I just didn't know what else to do or where else to go." Dawn said as a tear ran down her cheek.

Spike wiped it away as he spoke.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around Niblet. I've been hurt. It's no excuse I should have come by earlier to check in on you. I thought they would be lookin' after you. What about the Whelp and Demon Girl?"

"I haven't seen them since the funeral. Xander was supposed to be driving me to school and picking me up, but hasn't been there."

"Then how have you been gettin' to school?" Spike asked.

"I haven't been. I've just been home, alone." Dawn said sadly with a small shrug.

"You need to go to school Bit. You haven't been there in two weeks that's not good Pet."

"So not good. And I am so gonna kick someone's ass if I ever get the chance." Buffy said with anger. As much as she wanted to believe that Dawn was exaggerating, she couldn't see the point in it.

"What does it matter? I'm not really supposed to be alive. Why would it matter if I'm going to school or not?" Dawn said with self-hatred.

"Hey, I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself again." Spike said with anger dripping from his voice.

"Why not? It's true."

"No, it's not. It's the bloody farthest thing from the truth. You were born different, but so bloody what? Scientists are workin' on a way to clone some lamb, kiddies are bein' made in a petri dish in some lab. Everyone is born differently. Look at me; I was murdered. I'm supposed to be six feet under, yet I'm sittin' here with you. Everyone is different, and there's nothin' wrong with that Niblet. You were made special, more special than anyone else on this planet. You were chosen by the Highest Power this world has. The world felt like it needed a Dawn within it. That's not somethin' to be upset about. It's somethin' you should embrace and be proud of. You're a bloody miracle Niblet."

"Wow Spike, that was beautiful." Buffy said softly.

Another tear rolled down Dawn's cheek. "Thanks, Spike."

"Anytime Bit. Now, you need to go down and take a shower, and then I'll take ya out for some pizza. Then you can crash here tonight, and tomorrow I'll figure out this water business."

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked not wanting to burden Spike.

"Wouldn't have offered if I wasn't. Go on down, you know where it is, and then we'll head out." Spike said as he patted Dawn on her knee.

"Thanks, Spike." Dawn said with a small smile.

"Anytime Bit. We'll sort it out."

Dawn got up and headed down the stairs. Once she was out of sight, Spike let out a sigh and rubbed his hands over his face before he got up. He picked up the bottle of whiskey and went over to his makeshift kitchen and put it in his barely working fridge.

"Wankers." Spike said with anger, and Buffy knew he was talking about her friends.

"I don't really know what that means, but I have to agree with you. They better have a good excuse for this. Not that there really is one. I hope you are going to talk to them. I'd love to hear that conversation." Buffy said with her own anger.

Spike went over to his couch and pulled it away from the cement wall. He bent down and moved a loose cement block out and inside the hiddy hole was a small pile of money. He took it out and put fifty into his pocket before counting it and putting back.

"How much money do you have there?" Buffy asked as she tried to count it herself.

"Three hundred. Hope that water bill ain't too high. Guess I'm gonna need to figure out how to make some dosh." Spike put the fifty into his pocket as he put the couch back.

"How are you gonna do that? It's not like places are hiring the undead." Buffy said.

Spike sat back down in his chair with a sigh. Buffy could see on his face that he was getting stressed, something she never thought she would see on Spike's face. When Buffy had asked Spike to protect her sister should the worst happen, she didn't expect that he would have to be the one to deal with the money and raise her. She just thought he would keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't get eaten. Buffy didn't think that her friends wouldn't be there for Dawn. This isn't what Buffy wanted Spike to be doing. She didn't want her sister being taken care of by Spike. He was a vampire, a soulless one at that. He shouldn't be taking care of anyone.

Twenty minutes later Dawn was all showered and clean as she came back up the stairs.

"Ready to go Bit?"

"Yup. Are you sure about this?" Dawn asked still not sure if she should have bothered Spike at all.

"Told you I was." Spike said as he got up and put his coat on.

"Yay finally going outside, progress." Buffy said with a smile on her face.

Spike put an arm around Dawn's shoulders as they headed out and made their way towards a pizza parlor.

"How are you feeling? You were hurt right?" Dawn asked.

"I'm fine Bit. More concerned about you."

"I'm okay. It's hard. I miss her."

"Me too Bit. No one's been around for the two weeks?"

"Tara has been by, but only on her way to school to check in. She was talking about her and Willow moving in, but they haven't done it yet. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm gonna have to get a job so I can pay the bills. I'll have to sell the house and find a small cheap apartment I guess."

"You're not dropping out of school or sellin' the house. I'll get it sorted. Your job is school, where you're goin' tomorrow mornin'. I'll handle the adult stuff; you handle the kid stuff."

"That's not fair to you."

"It's not fair for you to be tryin' to figure out how to pay bills. You need to go to school and get good grades and go to University. I'll handle the rest. End of." Spike said with a nonargumentative tone.

"Fine." Dawn said clearly giving up.

"But how are you going to do it?" Buffy asked towards Spike. "How was I going to do it?" Buffy added to herself.

Spike and Dawn arrived at the pizza parlor and headed inside. They sat down and placed their order, a large pepperoni pizza, and two glasses of water.

"Do you need anythin' for school Bit?"

"No, I still have all of my books. It's going to be impossible to catch up. I haven't been there for two weeks, plus that week before everything that happened. It'll be a miracle if I don't have to do summer school." Dawn complained.

"You should have gone for the past two weeks. But I guess it's not really your fault. I don't think I would have either in your position." Buffy said as she sat down beside Dawn on the bench.

"Talk to your teachers and see if they could do somethin' for ya. If you have too, summer school won't be so bad. It'll keep ya out of trouble." Spike said.

"And no time for friends or a life." Dawn complained.

"I know it hasn't been an easy year for ya Bit. Sometimes you just need to push through the mud to get to the good stuff."

"And what would be the good stuff? I'm an orphan, with like no friends basically, living on my own. Where's the good stuff?" Dawn asked sadly.

"Learnin' to drive. Fallin' in love for the first time, first kiss. First trip on a plane, summers at the beach, graduatin', going to college, gettin' married, havin' a child. Livin'. Not every day is easy and not every day is hard. You have to live to get to the good stuff, just like you have to live to get through the mud."

"You know what Buffy told me before she jumped? The hardest thing in this world is to live in it."

"She's right. The world is hard and cruel, but at times it is also beautiful and kind. If you want to ever see more than just Sunnyhell, you need to graduate high school. Then the world is open to you. You can go to college anywhere in it. Live anywhere you want. You just need that fancy piece of paper."

"Ok, ok, I'll go to school tomorrow. But what am I going to do if they ask to speak to my guardian? It's not like Buffy can be there."

"I'll handle it if that's the case. We'll figure it out. For now, just tell em that you've been strugglin' since your mum's death and are back there to work. See if there's anythin' you can do for your grades to make up for the lost time. They might be more sympathetic than you think Bit."

"Maybe. I'll try and see. What am I going to do about the house?"

"Nothin'. I'll figure it out, I told you. It's not for you to worry about."

"It's not for you to worry about either." Dawn said back.

"Maybe not, I'm the adult, though. Your job is school, that's it. I'll talk to the others tomorrow and see what has their head up their asses and set em straight. Don't worry about it."

"I bet they'd be helping Buffy if I had died." Dawn said bitterly.

"Don't start with that. She didn't want you to die. The very least you can do for her now is to live, and the live the best life that you can. Big sis is lookin' down on you from her cloud, make her proud."

The waitress came and placed the pizza down on the table and gave them both a warm smile. Dawn grabbed a slice as did Spike.

"I still don't understand why you eat." Buffy said, as she looked at Spike. Angel never ate, he always seemed offended when Buffy mentioned him trying something. Spike always ate, it was weird.

"Do you think she's in Heaven?" Dawn asked quietly with hurt in her voice.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Dawn gave a shrug before speaking. "I overheard Willow and Xander talking at her funeral about how she was in Hell because of the portal."

"Listen here Bit; your sis was Heaven's Chosen One. There's no way someone as pure and good as her went anywhere but up. Hell portal or not. Death's not that simple, and portals are never simple. I know more about this than either of them do. She's restin' in peace up on her own cloud lookin' down on you. Make her proud."

"I'll try my best." Dawn said with a small smile.

"I know you will." Spike said back.

"God, you are so good with her. Have you always been this good with her? No wonder Mom had no problem with her and Dawnie being over with you. I'm not on some cloud looking down, but I'm not in Hell either. I guess this situation could be worse." Buffy said for the first time since her death.

Spike and Dawn spent the rest of the time talking about her school and her friends. Spike didn't complain at all; he just sat there listening to her talking about her life and the little drama around her friends. Spike would add in his own comments, but made sure that Dawn got to talk as much as she needed to. Buffy found herself enjoying this dinner. She wished she got to eat the pizza, as it looked delicious, but she was dead. It was nice for her to be able to sit and listen to Dawn talk about her life, even if she couldn't add in her own thoughts. For the first time, Buffy was feeling some sadness at her situation and not being able to be there for Dawn like she needed. It was a small comfort to know that at least Spike seemed to understand that she needed someone to just listen to her. When they were finished eating they made their way back to Spike's crypt for the night. When they arrived at the crypt, Dawn went over to the couch, and Spike sat down in his chair. Buffy found herself sitting down next to Dawn. Dawn curled her legs up and turned to look at Spike as she spoke.

"Will you tell me a story about you? You know before you died?"

"And why would you want to hear about that?" Spike asked, and even though Dawn didn't pick it up, Buffy could hear a slight hurt tone to his voice.

"Well, you've told me about being evil and some stories there."

"Excuse me?" Buffy cut in, but Dawn kept on talking like she wasn't even there.

"You told me about Drusilla and some of the things you've seen. But you've never told me about your parents or what it was like to be alive in the almost nineteen hundred. Were there girls like me back then?" Dawn asked with a young innocence to her.

Spike gave a snort to that last part. "Bloody Hell, a girl like you back then would never have survived. Times were a lot different back then, especially for the birds."

"What were they like? Come on this is educational, it's interesting history." Dawn said with a smirk.

"I'd tell you to get a history book, but most of it would be wrong."

"How could it be wrong? It's history." Dawn asked confused.

"Ah, but history according to whom? The winner always writes how they see things and the loser always does the same. You take our history books about World War two and the German's you'll see a complete contrast in em. Not to mention the chunk of years they were capturin' vamps to try and make em their little soldiers. Won't read that in any books."

"Seriously?" Buffy and Dawn both asked at the same time.

"The world ain't black and white no matter how hard people fight for it to be viewed that way. It's why I hate the Council and Watchers so much. They fill their Slayer's head with garbage and biased opinions instead of facts. They do everythin' they can to manipulate and abuse their Slayers emotionally and mentally to force them to bend to their beliefs and actions. A Slayer will always deny it and defend them, but any outsider with a brain and two eyes can see the pain they put them through."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked with concern for her sister, even in her death.

"Take big sis, for example, bloody perfect example. If she had been just a normal teenage girl and had gone through what she did everyone would scream abuse and try to get her away. But you put Slayer in front of her name and all of a sudden its acceptable behavior. Even if you take out the vampires in the mix. Not even sixteen years old and Watcher tells her before she had to fight the Master that he would kill her. Prophecy and all that. Then what does he do? Tells her to get over it practically and sent her on her merry way to her death. Any real man would have kept her safe and took the fight on himself. No real man sends a fifteen-year-old to die and do nothin'. But again Slayer so it's all okay. Eighteen takes her Slayer power from her and sent her to fight a powerful psychotic vampire on her own. But all's forgiven on her end, because he's her Watcher. The years of tellin' her she's a Slayer, and it's her job. That she has to put that before anything else. Go to high school, but don't expect to live long enough to graduate. Big sis was in an abusive relationship, one that she was never goin' to get out of because she was manipulated into believin' that she had nothin' but that in her life." Spike said with anger.

"You know when you say it like that; it does make sense. Even Angel and Riley were manipulative in their own way. Angel always wanted her to be dependant on him and his love for her, which magically disappeared with no soul. Then he added to that when he did get it back by having her believe that a soul is what holds love. Please, even I know that's a load of bull. Souls have nothing to do with emotions. Then Riley, who I thought was good for her at first, but then went all crazy with having to protect her like she was just supposed to be the little woman in the relationship. That's really sad that she died never knowing what real love felt like, what being loved for who she truly is felt like." Dawn said.

"Those two morons had no idea what gift they had in front of them. Both are too bullheaded to let a woman be the strong one in the relationship. Me, powerful women never bothered me. Got in trouble a lot when I was human for helpin' women do things they were not allowed to by society to do. Got a lot of respect for woman. They're all beautiful in their own unique way. They should never be put down or held back. You best remember that." Spike said with a pointed look at Dawn.

"I promise. No man will ever hold me back. If can't accept how awesome I am that's his problem and he can beat it."

"Good girl."

"I was not manipulated or abused thank-you both very much." Buffy said stubbornly, but it didn't hold much strength. She didn't want to admit that what some of the things Spike and Dawn said rang true to her.

"So what type of things did you help women with when you were alive?" Dawn asked.

"Small things nowadays, but back then it was a big deal. Women as young as you were already married off to some bloke and pregnant. Back then most marriages were arranged. The fathers would find suitable mates for their child, and from there you could pick who you wanted to marry."

"So kinda like a forced marriage."

"Sorta, but you weren't bein' tied up and dragged down to the alter. You got under ten options; all were to help with the family business and keep their good name. You got to see which one out of the ten worked best for you. Sometimes you found a mate that you really liked, and it worked on both fronts. Sometimes you had to settle and grin and bare through it. All depends on the list and what level of society you were in. Back then it was the men that worked, and the women took care of the house and children. Most didn't go passed grade six in school; there was no need. The lower level of society wouldn't even go most of the time. They weren't allowed to run a business or go to College. Their place was in the home doin' women's work."

"Sexist." Dawn said rudely.

"That it was Pet. When I was younger, I used to sneak extra school work out and bring it to this one mate of mine who was the daughter of a servant in the house next to ours."

"Wait a minute, if your neighbor had enough money for a servant, that meant you did." Dawn said.

"Oh my God she's right." Buffy said with a sly smile as she sat back, now very interested.

"This does not leave this room. You got it?" Spike said threateningly.

"Ya, ya, ya, I got it. You were rich." Dawn said with a playful smile.

"Very. Top level of society rich. Bloody stuffy parties and all."

"Oh my god this is awesome." Buffy said with a huge smile. "And I can't tell anyone. So not fair."

"Do you know how to Waltz?" Dawn asked so very happy about learning all of this information on Spike.

"Ya and others. Had to learn, had to learn a lot of shit."

"Ok, so what happened with the servant daughter?"

"She didn't go to school, so I helped her read, write and brought her more work. Last I heard she went off to College and got herself a degree. All off of what I was able to help her with."

"Went completely against the rules." Dawn stated.

"After graduatin' University, I opened."

"Hold it, University? You have a degree? In what?"

"This is too perfect. Mr. I've Always Been Bad, has a University degree." Buffy said with a smirk.

"Master's Degree in Business with a Bachelor's in English. You don't ever tell a soul." Spike said in a deadly tone.

"I won't." Dawn said with an eye roll.

"I would, but no one can hear me." Buffy grumbled at not being able to gossip about all of the information she was learning about Spike.

"So after you graduated?" Dawn asked getting back on track.

"I opened a few businesses that were ideas from my female mates and had them run it. Legally they were mine, but all profits and the business went to them. My name was just on the paperwork. A few girls were bein' forced to marry some bloke they didn't like, and he was abusive on some level. I would talk in confidence and private to said bloke about how she came from bad blood and wouldn't be a good wife. The blokes always changed their minds and went on to someone else."

"Mr. Knight in Shiny Armor." Dawn said.

"Hardly, just don't like seein' a woman bein' told what she can and can't do."

"What were your parents like?"

Buffy could see the hurt flash through Spike's eyes for a moment, before he blocked them off. Buffy knew from Angel that family was always a hard conversation to have. Angel never talked about it, because according to him that's the first thing a vampire does, kill their family.

"That's complicated Bit."

"Because you killed them when you were turned? That's what Angel told Buffy, that every vamp kills their family." Dawn said calmly like they were talking about the weather.

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked surprised that Dawn had even heard that conversation.

"That's what he told her to justify his actions? Bloody Git. Angelus never changes. I didn't kill my parents, not every vamp does that only the ones that had thought about killin' them when they were human."

"Oh, so then he wanted to kill them when he was human. That's not good." Dawn said a little disturbed by that piece of information.

"What? That can't be right." Buffy said softly to herself still not truly willing to let her belief of who Angel was go yet.

"His soul was never pure; it's why he can still cross the line without any problems. He was nothin' more than a drunken man whore. Slept with the town's female population. He had servants as young as twelve, and he would hold em down and rape em, includin' his twelve-year-old sister. When he was turned he killed em all and loved every second of it. He's the cruelest vampire in history, and he's bloody proud of it. He's not someone you should be around Bit."

"Wow, I had no idea. I don't think he'll come back here with Buffy gone now. If he does, I'll stay away I promise. That's really creepy."

"I can't believe that, but really Spike doesn't lie, and he wouldn't lie about this." Buffy said to herself.

She wanted to deny it, but really what would be the point? Spike had no idea she was here. He was telling Dawn so she would be safe from him. Plus there was the whole basement situation when Spike was healing. Buffy couldn't deny what she saw with her own eyes. She could tell that Angel was enjoying it far too much. None of this was a good feeling, and Buffy hated that she hadn't done more research into Angel when she was younger. Maybe they could have avoided so much pain and suffering if she had.

"Probably right, he won't be back." Spike said, and Buffy could hear the slight hopefulness in his voice, not that she could blame him.

"So what were your parents like?" Dawn pressed.

"It's gettin' late Bit. You got school in the mornin'."

"Seriously? Come on?"

"You're exhausted Bit. You haven't been sleepin' well. You need rest. Maybe another night I'll tell you, but not tonight. Be happy with what you got."

"Ok fair enough." Dawn said as she got up.

Spike went downstairs with her and Dawn got into bed after she removed her jacket, shoes, and socks. She laid down while Spike lit a few candles so that she wouldn't be in total darkness down here.

"Why haven't you been sleepin'?" Spike asked.

"Too scared to. I keep having nightmares about that night. It's not easy to sleep anymore." Dawn said sadly.

Spike went over to his bookshelf and pulled out a book before making his way back over to the bed. He sat down on top of the covers and put his arm around Dawn. Dawn moved closer, and she put her head against Spike's chest.

"I know a trick. Used to do this with Dru when her mind was too unstable to sleep. Just close your eyes and listen to my voice. You'll be asleep before you know it Bit." Spike explained as he opened the book and started to read the first page.

Buffy sat down on the bed and listened to Spike reading an old English book that she was sure her mother would have loved. Buffy noticed that Spike's accent got softer while he was reading and she found that she liked it without the edge to it. It made him sound like a normal human. Buffy sat there just listening and watching as Dawn fell asleep on Spike before the first chapter had even finished, but Spike didn't stop. He continued to read on until the fifth chapter when he was certain that Dawn wouldn't wake back up. He then gently moved her up and off of him so she would be asleep on the bed. Spike made sure she was tucked in before kissing the top of her head and leaving the room. Buffy had no choice, but to follow Spike back to the upper level. Spike went over to the fridge and got some blood out to drink. She could see the sadness and hurt in his eyes, and she couldn't help but wonder what his parents were like. It seemed like a really sore subject for him, and that made Buffy even more curious as to why that was. After drinking the blood, Spike went over to the couch and laid down on it. Buffy could see that he was in pain still from everything that had happened to him. Buffy knew that tonight Spike was done. She sat down on the chair and sat back getting comfortable. She knew that Spike wouldn't be awake until it was time to get Dawn off to school.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It as six thirty in the morning when Spike had woken Dawn up so she could take a shower before they would leave. Spike was thankful that it was cloudy outside and suspected to be raining today. That would make his traveling easier. He had to pay the water bill and talk to the idiots that call the Slayer a friend. Buffy could see that Spike was tired and trying really hard not to go back to sleep. Spike was nocturnal, and it wouldn't be easy to get his body used to being awake during the day. Spike had done it many times, but Buffy had never seen him first thing in the morning when he was awake. He looked like he could use a few cups of coffee in him. Twenty minutes later they were making their way through the streets to get to the house so Dawn could change and grab her books. Once in the house, Dawn headed up, and Spike made his way over to where Joyce had kept all of the mail. Spike looked through them, and he could easily pick out which ones were bills and which ones were just junk. Spike grabbed the bills and opened them.

"That's against the law you know. But I guess it doesn't matter as Mom and me are dead now."

"Shit." Spike said as he looked over the bills, most overdue. It wasn't just the water bill, it was the utilities, and Joyce's hospital bill was way past due. It was a large number that they were looking at.

Buffy went over and looked at the bills over Spike's shoulder. She was surprised herself by the number they were looking at. It was a lot of money that was in debt plus the mortgage payments each month. They needed to make four grand a month if they were going to break even and pay down Joyce's hospital bill each month. It wasn't an easy task; it was a grand a week.

"You can't afford this house, Spike." Buffy said knowing that Spike was already trying to figure it out.

Spike let out a sigh as he put the bills down. He started to pace as he thought out loud.

"Don't know how I'm gonna do this. Should sell the house, it would take care of the debt, but where would the Bit go after that? She can't be livin' alone. Three hundred grand left on the house might get lucky to break even on it, but that still leaves the debt, that becomes hers once she's eighteen. The gallery, shit. I need to check that out. It's probably in the red as well." Spike let out a sigh and Buffy could see him getting stressed all over again.

Buffy couldn't blame him. It wasn't as simple as selling a house after someone died. Dawn lived here, where would she go if she didn't? And even Buffy knew the housing market in Sunnydale was terrible. No one wanted to live in a place where they were most likely to die walking down the street at night. Buffy didn't care about the house though. Even if she was alive, she didn't care it was just a house. She wanted Dawn taken care of and if that had to happen in an apartment then so be it. The house wasn't important, the people within that house were.

"Spike, sell the house. Try and break even. Don't take this on yourself." Buffy said even though he couldn't hear her.

Dawn came down the stairs dressed and ready to go to school.

"I'm all set."

"Let's go." Spike and Dawn walked out and made their way towards the school.

"How do you feel about the house Bit?" Spike asked.

"It's fine. It's just a house. A big empty house. Why?"

"How would you feel if you couldn't live there?" Spike asked carefully.

"I've known for two weeks now Spike that I wouldn't be able to live there. It's just a house to me. Besides, there's a lot of bad memories in it. Mom died there. It wouldn't bother me at all to be someplace else."

"That's good, cause I'm probably gonna need to sell it for the bills. It's a little too high on my own."

"That's okay, really Spike I don't care about it."

"Good. Don't add any more stress to your lives." Buffy said happy that Spike seemed to be willing to sell the house and Dawn was backing him on it.

They arrived at the school, and Dawn gave Spike a hug before she headed inside. Spike then made his way towards the water company to pay the bill. He was paying in cash, but he knew he would need to set up an account with the bank for any future bills he would need to pay. He also had to work on getting things at the house taken care of and finding Dawn a place to live. Thankfully rent was cheap in town because of the mortality rate. Finding something decent wouldn't be a problem, it was finding someone to live with Dawn that would be. With the promise that the water would be turned back on by lunch Spike headed back out and moved to the Magic Shop where he was hoping he would find someone there that he could speak to. Spike walked in and saw that everyone was there, minus Giles who had already left for London the day of Buffy's funeral.

"Oh great, you didn't die. And here I thought the past two weeks was a clear sign your ass was no longer here." Xander said with anger at seeing Spike.

"He almost did die, no thanks to any of you." Buffy said with anger in Spike's defense. She was furious with each and every single person in the room for the treatment of her sister.

"Why don't you ask how the Bit is doin?" Spike snapped back.

"She's fine I'm sure." Xander said.

"She's not fine. She hadn't been to school in two weeks, didn't have any water for the past two days and had no food for the past two weeks. Why haven't any of you been checkin' in on her? Why is she livin' alone?" Spike demanded.

"We've been really busy with school and everything after Buffy. We haven't had the time to check in." Willow said.

"Are you kidding me? You were so busy living your life that you forget to check in on my sister? What the fuck?" Buffy asked with rage dripping from her voice now. She walked around the room to try and work off the anger. She knew Spike was pissed so he would lay into them.

"Oh, your lives eh? Who cares about the fifteen-year-old that buried her Mum and watched her sister take a swan dive into a portal and died? Her life doesn't matter. Who cares about the pile of bills sittin' there waitin' to be paid? Who cares if she ends up on the street starvin'? What the hell is wrong with you lot? You left the Slayer's sister on her own for two weeks. How long were you plannin' ongoing for before you finally did somethin'? What if she hadn't come to me last night? You're spittin' on her grave." Spike boomed with anger.

"Damn right they are." Buffy added, and she knew that Spike wouldn't let her down in tearing the others apart by their behavior.

"I thought someone else was looking after her. Isn't that how it normally works? The close friends do it?" Anya asked confused.

"Ya Pet, that's how it works." Spike answered knowing that Anya was still too new to the human world.

"I've gone by a few times, but I didn't check to see if she had everything. Willow and me were talking last night about the house, and what to do. We were thinking of maybe moving in, but weren't sure if Dawnie would want us to or what to do for money." Tara said.

"We're still on student loans and living in the dorm. It's not that simple for us to quit school and find work." Willow said.

"Ya wouldn't want to complicate your life." Spike snarked.

"It's not that, it's a lot of responsibility, and it's not exactly like Dawn really exists." Willow said with a small shrug.

"How dare you say that about my sister! I died for her. The very least you could do is be there for her." Buffy yelled at her so called friends.

"She has a heartbeat, she breathes, she bleeds, just like the rest of you lot. She exists. She deserves to be treated like a normal human bein'." Spike roared.

"Of course she does. I'm sorry Spike, I should have paid more attention and gone by more. I didn't know the situation was that bad. I'll go by tonight and stay with her." Tara said feeling guilty that she had neglected Dawn in the past two weeks. Tara wasn't as close to Buffy as the others had been, but she still mourned her death, and she was trying to comfort Willow with the loss of her best friend.

"She's at school; I dropped her off. It'd be nice if she didn't have to walk home alone." Spike said seeming to take what he was getting from Tara.

"I don't have any classes today. I can pick her up. Take her for ice cream, and we can talk." Tara easily agreed.

"I have to get to work." Xander said with anger as he got up. Still not happy about Spike.

"Why don't you put some of that money and help pay the bloody bills, so the Bit doesn't end up forty grand in debt when she turns eighteen." Spike said as Xander walked towards him.

"I have my own bills to pay. It's not my job to pay someone else's." Xander said as he shoved Spike into the bookshelf as he walked by and out the door.

"Bastard." Buffy said with a deadly tone in her voice.

She couldn't believe her friends were acting like this. This was her sister; she was just a young teenager she didn't deserve any of this. Buffy took comfort in knowing that she would be looked after if she had died that night. Now it was looking like her friends didn't even care about Dawn at all. The only one that did was Spike, and he had every reason to leave and never look back.

"A word Glinda." Spike said before he turned and headed out of the shop and Buffy had no choice, but to follow.

Tara walked outside to speak with Spike and Buffy could see she felt guilty about the past two weeks.

"I'm sorry Spike. I've been so busy with school and with Willow. She's taking it really hard. I should have been there for Dawnie more. I will from now. I promise."

"You're a good Bird. People make mistakes; it's how you correct then that matter. I went over the bills that I found. It's gonna cost four grand to keep the house each month, and that doesn't cut down the debt. It's too much. The house has to get sold."

"I was afraid of that. How is Dawnie going to take it?"

"I mentioned it to her; she seemed fine with it. She seemed a little relieved to get rid of the bad memories from the place. Can't say I blame her. I can find a two bedroom somewhere in town for a decent price, but someone has to live with her. I would, but I can't be there during the night. I'll need to be workin', and she shouldn't have to spend her nights all alone."

"I'll talk to Willow. We can move in, and if she doesn't then, I can just move in. Someone needs to step up and be there for her. You can't do it on your own. I can tutor to help with money."

"Preciate it. I need to find anything on the Gallery that Joyce had. Might be able to turn it around and make a profit. I'll go back to the house and look through it."

"We'll need a real estate agent and lots of boxes. What about all of the things?"

"Keep what means the most and toss whatever doesn't fit in the new place. Can probably find a place without security deposit from a demon contact. Might take a couple of weeks though to get some dosh saved up for the rent."

"What about the mortgage while we are waiting for the sale?"

"Gonna have to try and pay somethin' on it, so the bank doesn't take the house. It shouldn't take too long to get a sale, but we might just get enough to cover the outstanding debt on it. We won't get anythin' extra."

"What's the outstanding amount?"

"Three hundred thousand. Plus there's bout forty in debt not includin' the gallery. It's gonna be tough for a while."

"Oh boy, okay. So we get a monthly budget and stick to it. I'll see what I can do for working while being in school. I should be able to find something to work around my schedule and during the day."

"I'll work at night and patrol. We have another issue of the Bit's school. At some point, they are gonna want to talk to an adult about her."

"And Buffy is dead. We also can't report her being dead because then she'll be taken by Social Services. Ok, problem. Maybe I could get Willow to make some ID for you. A long lost uncle?"

"We need somethin' to keep the Bit with us and not in some foster home. See if she'll do it."

"I'll check with her, but I think she will. She's just really hurt right now; she'll come around soon."

"She better the Bit doesn't deserve this."

"I know she doesn't. I'll see her after school and stay with her. I'll figure it out on my end."

"I got some calls to make then. I'll see you tonight at the house."

"Bye Spike."

Spike turned and headed down the street with Buffy while Tara went back inside.

"Well, at least someone is helping you with Dawn. This isn't what you were supposed to be doing. This isn't what I wanted, but apparently, that doesn't matter to my friends. No, they just want to let my sister be all on her own and who cares what happens to her. I can't believe a soulless vampire is taking care of her. She's gonna turn into a criminal, a British swearing criminal." Buffy said as she let out a huff. If her mother could see this, she would be rolling in her grave.

Spike arrived back at the house just before the clouds opened up and rain started to pour down. He went over to the small desk by the phone and started to go through it all after he removed his coat. He needed to know everything about the bills because he would need to make sure it was all paid off. He also needed the account information so he could have it all set up at his bank. Spike grabbed everything and went over to the couch and sat down with the bills all spread out so he could think. He also had a pencil so he could make them up. Buffy sat down in the chair and watched as Spike could add the numbers up without using a calculator. Just seeing him do it was making her head hurt.

"How are you able to do that? Seriously just how smart are you? You don't act smart that's for sure." Buffy said to herself.

Spike obviously didn't hear her as he continued going through the bills and marking the ones that were paid and keeping the others in order that were most important to least important. When he got to the bills about the gallery, Buffy went over and looked down at the paperwork.

"How does that make any sense to you?" Buffy said slightly amazed that Spike was able to read it and actually understand any of it.

"Hm, it still breaks even. Might be able to turn this around into a profit after all." Spike said to himself.

"Don't know how, but go for it Mr. Master's degree."

Buffy sat there watching as Spike went over the bills making notes on all of them and generating a To-Do list for the house and gallery. Buffy couldn't help, but think that it was a very long list. It wouldn't be easy to sell the house as it required a great deal of work with the packing, cleaning, organizing, finding a realtor and getting it sold. Not to mention finding a new place for Dawn to live and getting the Gallery organized. It was a lot of work, something Buffy didn't think she would have been able to do. With the bills, in order, Spike went back over to the desk and grabbed the phone book to look up realtors. He didn't know which one to go with, but at this point, they just needed someone to start the process. Once he had a realtor schedule to come by tomorrow to have the house appraised Spike then put the call in for his one demon friend that might be able to find them a place.

"Hello."

"Ello Mate."

"Spike, long time no hear. I heard about your fall, how are ya?"

"Gettin' better. How's the wife and kids?"

"They're a handful. You should come over for dinner one night. They miss you."

"I'll make sure I do."

"What can I do for you?"

"I need a place to live, two bedrooms, safe for a young human girl and under two grand a month with everythin'. Know any places?"

"Might know a few. I'll look into it and get back to you. When do you need it by?"

"As soon as possible."

"This for the Slayer's girl?"

"Ya, it is. Need to get the house sold and cut down on bills."

"You and your humans. Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"Ta mate."

"Be safe with those humans."

"Always am. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Spike."

Spike put the phone back down and let out a sigh as he rubbed his hands over his face. He needed a minute to think about everything, but there was also a lot that needed to be done. Spike went into the kitchen and looked through the cupboards and fridge. It was basically empty. The water bill had been a hundred and fifty dollars, so Spike was down to half of what he had. He would need to make some quick cash tonight to start building up a pot for the rent and bills. The problem was the only job he could do that would make him some decent money, for now, was one he didn't really want to do. It's not something he's ever done before, but he might not have much of a choice at the moment. The house needed food, so Spike grabbed his coat and headed out. He would pick up a few things and then he could go through the basement to try and start getting some of the packing done. They would need to toss a lot of things that they didn't need for it to fit in a new place. Spike was hoping that it wouldn't be too hard on Dawn, but there was no other choice right now. They couldn't keep the house; it was too much for Spike to handle. All Spike could do was hope that Dawn would understand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was just after four when Tara and Dawn walked through the front door. Tara had surprised Dawn at the school, and Dawn looked very happy to see her. They talked about her day the whole way home and when they got there why were surprised to see Spike still there. He was in the kitchen going through some paperwork and had a few art pieces on the counter and leaning against the wall.

"Hey Spike, what are you doing?" Dawn asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Going over the Gallery information and I found these down in the basement and attic. Your Mum must have gotten them before she passed away. How was school?" Spike asked giving Dawn his full attention.

"It was ok. My principal wants a meeting though with my guardian and my teachers to discuss my situation. So I'm thinking not good." Dawn answered as she sat down on a stool.

"Definitely not good." Buffy agreed.

"When's the meetin'?" Spike asked.

"Tomorrow at ten."

"I spoke to Willow, and she made all the necessary documents that you need to be Dawn's uncle. We made it so that you were Joyce's half-brother. Willow figured her dad could have slept with an English woman on one of his many trips overseas. For right now you are Dawnie's guardian while Buffy is away handling family business." Tara said as he handed Spike the documents and his new ID.

"Ta Pet. Looks like I got another meetin' tomorrow."

"Another?" Dawn asked.

"Tomorrow at noon a realtor will be comin' by to appraise the house."

"So we are going to sell it." Dawn stated.

"We need to Dawnie. It's too many bills for us to handle." Tara said apologetically.

"Hey, it's fine with me. Like I told Spike, too many bad memories. I don't think Mom or Buffy would care. It's just a house right?" Dawn said trying to comfort them both as she could see they felt bad about this.

"That's exactly it. It's walls and a roof. I want you happy and being taken care of. The house means nothing to Mom and me would say the same." Buffy easily agreed.

"I got a mate lookin' for a new place for us." Spike said.

"I talked to Willow, and we are going to be living with you Dawnie. Willow will be by later with some clothing. We'll live here now until the house is sold and then we'll move into the new place." Tara said.

"Sure." Dawn agreed.

"Ya now they are going to live with you. Would have been nice if someone was for the past two weeks." Buffy said still angry and bitter about it.

"I got some food to last a few days. I need to patrol tonight and then work to try and get some money for this move. I also need to go to the Gallery and get that sorted out." Spike said.

"I don't have classes tomorrow so I can be here getting the house ready for the realtor. I can also get a bunch of boxes and start going through everything." Tara said.

"What about Buffy's room?" Dawn asked sadly.

"We can do it last and when you're ready." Tara said gently.

"It's just a room and things Dawnie." Buffy said trying to comfort her sister. She hated that she couldn't talk to them or touch them. She really wished she could have helped to make this easier on all of them.

"I need to grab my car and load it with these pieces. Then I'll head out to the Gallery." Spike said as he started to put everything away.

"Do you think we can keep the Gallery running? Who's going to be there during the day?" Dawn asked.

"Your Mum had a bird in there for the day to day stuff in case someone came in. I can see if she wants to keep workin' there. I can run the rest of it."

"I can help too." Dawn said.

"And you will when we have to put on shows to try and increase sales. Don't worry Bit; there will be work you can help with." Spike said.

"Good, because you shouldn't have to do everything yourself." Dawn said.

"He shouldn't be doing any of this." Buffy said.

"I'll be fine Pet. I gotta go. You girls be safe." Spike said as he got up and collected the papers.

"We're just going to cook dinner and stay home." Tara said.

"Ya, we can start to clean up the rooms. I can go through my room and get rid of any of the junk that I don't need." Dawn said.

"Clean the room more than anything. We need to make sure we can get the highest appraisal that we can." Spike said.

"On it." Dawn said.

"I'll work on the rest of the house."

"I moved everything out of the attic and into the basement. If there is anything, you want to store place it down there." Spike said.

"Got it." Dawn said.

Spike headed out of the house to grab his car and then he would be back to fill it with the pieces he could find. It was going to be a long night, but it was one he would have to do. Buffy couldn't believe that Spike was doing so much for Dawn. She never expected for Spike to be doing any of this. Buffy didn't understand why Spike was doing this for Dawn. She knew that he cared for her, but she never expected for Spike to go this far for Dawn.

"Thank you, Spike. I know you can't hear it, but thank-you." Buffy said as she kept up with him.

Buffy spent the rest of the night following Spike around, not by choice, as he gathered all of the pieces from the house and loaded them into his car. Buffy had never been to the Gallery before, and she was surprised to see how large it was. It was nice, dirty, but nice. It would need a bit of cleaning, but it could be really nice with it all set. Buffy couldn't do anything but sit there watching as Spike moved pieces around the gallery and cleaned it up before he headed back out and drove to the really bad part of town.

"What are we doing here?" Buffy thought out loud as she looked at a rundown factory.

Spike let out a sigh before he got out of the car and headed towards the building. Buffy was shocked at what she saw when they walked in. The whole place was filled with demons of all different species. Lights were hanging from the ceiling, a bar off to the right-hand side of the factory. And in the middle of the room was a boxing ring of some sorts, but there were metal bars all around it. Buffy had no idea what this place was or what they were even doing in a place like this. Buffy looked around and saw that in the ring or cell were two demons fighting each other.

"What is this so demon fight club?" Buffy thought out loud.

Spike walked over to someone standing off to the side of the fighting ring.

"Spike, never thought I'd see the day you walked in here. Everyone knows you hate this type of thing." The green demon said.

"Need to make some dosh in a short time. You want me or not?" Spike said in a clipped tone.

"Wait, you're gonna fight?" Buffy asked still confused about what is going on here.

"You can go next then. Forty percent of the winnings."

"Sixty or I walk out." Spike said, and it was clear on the demon's face he knew that Spike wouldn't budge.

"Fine, but only because I'll make a mint off you. We don't get vamps much less a Master. I'll have demons paying me to get in the ring with you. Get in the back and get ready."

Spike didn't say anything he just headed for the back where he would be able to remove his boots and his shirt. Buffy didn't know how she felt about this. Sure Spike could fight, Buffy had no doubt about that, but this was dangerous. All it would take was one lucky hit by a demon and Spike could be seriously hurt or killed. Buffy didn't know if they fight to the death or not in this type of thing, but she did know that Spike was putting himself at risk of not being there for Dawn. Something she wasn't happy about. Buffy watched as the current fight was happening. She was glad to see that the opponents weren't trying to kill each other and when the one demon was knocked out the fight had ended. At least Spike wouldn't be killed on purpose, but he was still at risk of getting seriously hurt. Buffy didn't care about his well-being, but she did care about Dawn's well-being, and if Spike got too injured, then Dawn would be back on her own. Even if Willow and Tara were going to move in with her, Buffy didn't hold much faith towards them, not with the way they had been acting these past two weeks.

Buffy watched as the same demon that Spike spoke to went out into the middle of the ring with a microphone while the two demons made their way off. Buffy looked around and could see demons exchanging money. They were clearly taking bets, so this was some type of betting fighting club. Buffy didn't know whether to be disgusted by it or annoyed that she had no idea this had been going on in her town.

"Next round starts in two minutes. We have a Kfishern demon versus William the Bloody. A special fight tonight folks. Our first Master Vampire to enter the fighting club. Place your bets now."

Buffy could see the excitement filling the club as demons practically ran over to the different makeshift betting booths to place their bets. Buffy had a feeling they weren't betting on Spike's success. Spike rolled his shoulders and got himself ready for this fight.

"You look a little nervous. You better win and not get that hurt. Dawn needs you."

After a quick two minutes, Spike and his opponent were called out to the ring. Buffy moved, so she was closer, but that put her in the midst of the other demons. Buffy could hear the whispers going around about how they wanted to watch as Spike was beaten down. This was not a crowd happy to have a vampire here. Buffy remembered Giles mentioning how demons and vampires don't tend to get along with each other. With a ring of the bell the fight started. The red ugly looking demon in the ring didn't even hesitate to come after Spike. Spike was ready though, Spike wasn't a patient man when it came to certain areas, but he was very patient when he had to be. Spike easily fought off the demon's attacks and made sure to move around a lot to give himself enough space for a proper attack.

"Come on Spike, stop dancing around." Buffy said worried that the longer this went on for the worst it would be for Spike.

Buffy knew Spike preferred to dance; he had told her that himself. It was more fun for him, and Buffy figured that after being inside for two weeks his demon wanted to play. Buffy was just hoping he didn't play for too long and open himself up to a deadly attack. Buffy did notice how well Spike could fight. She had always known he was a good fighter; he was the only opponent of her's that had survived a battle with her. He had always challenged her, and their fights were always intense. This was the first time though, that Buffy had been able to just watch him fight. His movements were fluid and graceful, much like a cat. Dancing was the perfect description of what Spike was doing. It was almost beautiful the way he could move around. Buffy could tell he was playing with the demon. The demon had no idea that he was beaten before even stepping into the ring. Buffy could hear the cheers from the demons for the red demon to break Spike; they had no idea what they were in for. Buffy couldn't help the smile that played on her face when she saw the exact moment that Spike was going in for the kill. With a powerful roundhouse kick to the head, the demon was knocked out cold. The crowd was not happy about it, but Buffy couldn't help but smile at Spike's victory. Spike didn't show off though. He simply turned and walked out of the ring. Buffy went and met him back in the side area where his stuff was. She could tell he wasn't happy about this and that made her confused. Spike was a vampire, he loved the fight, so what was so wrong with this type of situation? As Spike was getting his shirt and boots back on another demon came over to him. This time the demon looked half human, and he smiled at seeing Spike.

"Never thought you would ever be here. You always made it clear when I asked if you wanted to tag along that you hated this type of thing."

"Mick." Spike said without even looking up before he continued. "I do hate this shit. Prefer the kill, don't see the point in bouncin' around just boxin'. The demon in me wants the kill, not the knockout. Sides, these demons are innocent and harmless, they shouldn't be fightin' like this."

"Humans do it, so demons do it too. Not that big of a deal to have some fun. It's our version of boxing. I'd imagine your demon is pretty pissed right now at having to walk away, but you'll get used to it you know that. You didn't answer my question though."

"Niblet needs help, she can't take care of herself, so I'm gonna be fightin' here to make the dosh up." Spike said with a shrug.

"That human girl you've been protecting from that Hell God. There's a lot of demons not too happy about that. They don't like other demons playing human, even a half-breed like us."

"Demons always have a problem with half-breeds. It's why there are so many wars goin' on. Has nothin' to do with me and what is right. She's fifteen; she don't deserve to end up on the street starvin' or being hit around in some foster home."

"Never said she did. I've always admired you for that. You're not afraid to let humans close or to care for them. Just be careful, you'll paint an even larger target on your back. I don't want the wrong people knowing about this. And by this, I don't mean the club. You can beat any demon in the ring. It's the crusades that I'm concerned about." Mick said with worry for Spike's welfare.

"I'll be careful, didn't get this old by luck."

"Bring the girl by the house sometime. It'd be nice to meet her."

"I will. See you around Mate." Spike said as he got up.

"See you, Spike." Mick said back.

Buffy walked with Spike over to the green demon again. The demon handed Spike a roll of bills, and without saying a word, Spike headed out and back to the car. Once in the car Spike counted the money. It was clear no one thought he would win tonight as he had eight hundred dollars from just one fight. Spike knew though the more rounds he won, the less money he would be making as his odds would be in his favor instead of him being the underdog. He would still be able to make a grand a week if he went every night. Some nights he wouldn't be able to though depending on what he had to do for the Gallery. Spike was hoping to be making a grand a week, this week being the first one he would have to be here every night to get as much as he could with being so new. After that, his amounts would even out and be fairly steady. If he could make four grand roughly a month, then half of that roughly would go to bills and the other half could go towards the debt. It was going to be annoying and tiring, because he would have to fight more than once a night to make a decent amount really. Spike would only be getting seventy percent of the money that was bet on him after the payouts, so once Spike became a more sure thing demons would bet more on him, but his odds went up making the payout less compared to betting against him. Some nights might suck for him, but Spike was willing to do it for Dawn and to keep her in a home.

Spike put the money away, and he sat back and let out a sigh. His demon was angry enough at him for taking on a human girl, now he wanted blood, and Spike knew he had a long night of patrolling ahead of him. Thankfully in the past two weeks, the demon population and vampire population has increased with Buffy's death.

"This really bothers you. I don't know why though, I would have thought this was something you would be interested in. Violence is violence. But you seem to hate violence with no point really. Maybe you really are different from the other vamps." Buffy said as Spike started his car and they were off for the cemeteries. It was set to be a long night followed by another long day.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was nine thirty in the morning and Buffy was sitting there watching as Spike stood there in the basement of his crypt. Spike had put on black slacks that Buffy had to admit, looked amazing on his ass. He was also wearing a black button down shirt and some simple black converse shoes to go with it. It was very different for Spike and Buffy was shocked he even owned anything other than tight black pants and a black t-shirt. Not only that, he owned something other than his boots. This was something Buffy never thought she would see and she doubted she would ever get used to it.

"It's just a meeting Spike. You can do this." Buffy said, but she was seriously doubting it.

Spike would be meeting Dawn's principal and her four teachers this morning. Nothing about this was going to end well and all Buffy could do was hope that Dawn didn't get kicked out for the semester. Spike and authority never went well together. It was going to be a miracle if he pulled this off.

"Right, best to get this over with." Spike grumbled before he went and grabbed his keys and headed up and out without a jacket.

Thankfully it was still cloudy out so he didn't have to worry about making a dash for his car or for the school doors. Spike got into his car and Buffy had no choice, but to sit down beside him. She was feeling better that she had been able to see Dawn and her friends finally. Though she was too pissed off at her friends right now to truly enjoy it. But she had been able to see Dawn and listen to her and make sure she was doing alright. With Spike and Tara now stepping up Buffy was hoping that Dawn would be okay now once she adjusted to the new life. Buffy was also hoping that selling the house wouldn't be too bad and they would be able to at least break even on it. They would find out how much they would be able to list the house on the market and from there they could come up with a plan for the rest of the debt.

Once they arrived at the school Spike headed inside and made his way over to the front office. Buffy took a deep breath as Spike opened the door and walked in. She could only imagine how horrible this was going to be. The old receptionist looked up at Spike and gave a warm smile as she spoke.

"Good morning, how can I help you Sir?"

"Morning Luv, I'm here to speak with Mr. Kristoff regarding my niece Dawn Summers." Spike said and Buffy almost fell over with the sound of his voice.

No longer did he hold the rough street British accent. Instead he almost sounded like Giles, but with his rich and sexy voice that Buffy always associated with Spike. He had an almost purr sound to his voice no matter what he was saying. Buffy had never figured he would be able to sound like a proper Brit. The receptionist gave Spike a warm smile, clearly loving the English accent, before she spoke.

"Of course he's been expecting you. Follow me please."

"Lead the way Luv." Spike said with a friendly smile back.

Buffy was still in shock as she followed Spike into the Principal's office and saw that the four teachers were already there. Based on how they got quiet when the door opened they were clearly discussing something that shouldn't be heard by outsiders.

"This is Dawn Summers' uncle. I'm sorry I didn't get your name." The receptionist said with a slight shy tone to her voice.

"William Summers." Spike easily responded.

"Thank-you Ms. Wilson, we can take it from here." Mr. Kristoff said with authority in his voice.

Ms. Wilson headed out of the office and closed the door behind her. Spike went over to the desk as Mr. Kristoff spoke.

"Please have a seat Mr. Summers."

"Ta mate." Spike said as he sat down.

"This is Mr. Smith, Dawn's English teacher, Mrs. Jackson, Dawn's Science teacher, Mrs. Roloft, Dawn's History teacher and finally Mr. James, Dawn's Math teacher. As you know they have all expressed concerns regarding Dawn's school habits and her lack of attendance." Mr. Kristoff's voice was dripping with authority and Buffy wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face.

"I am aware of the current situation regarding Dawn's home life. As I am sure you all are aware that she has recently lost her mum, my sister. It was both very unexpecting and shocking to say the least. After her mum was cleared medically from her tumour we all thought she was out of the woods. I'm afraid it has taken a hard toll on both remaining Summers." Spike said with perfect patience in his voice.

"Yes we are aware of her current loss. Where is her sister. I would have figured she would be the one to have guardianship over Dawn." Mr. Kristoff asked.

"I have temporary guardianship of Dawn until Buffy has returned. She had to take care of a sick relative out of state. The only real family they have left and I am afraid our aunt is on death's door as well. All of this responsibility should fall to their father's shoulders, but the man is not much of a man. He has no problem to allow his daughters to struggle through the maze of life on their own. I came down immediately once I got word of the situation. I'm aware Dawn has missed three weeks of school. But surely there is something that can be worked out for her courses so she does not lose this semester. She's lost so much recently and I would hate for her to be punished for something out of her control, like death." Spike said calmly, but Buffy could pick up the slight tone he was using to manipulate the situation. He was slowly turning it around to make the others the bad guys in this and not Dawn. Buffy couldn't help but smirk at this. She wouldn't have been able to stay so calm.

"We don't wish to punish Dawn for anything. We are concerned for her education and how her homelife is reflecting her schooling." Mrs. Jackson said.

"I understand that fully and I am going to be ensuring that she is given the necessary care. She is back in school and will be attending every day. She is dedicated to her schooling and making up for the loss time. I'm hoping we can come to an agreement on what Dawn needs to do to ensure the safety of her semester." Spike said back.

"I've spoken to Dawn yesterday. I want her to read MacBeth, the book she missed during the past three weeks. She is to write an essay on the plot and how it affected the audience during that period of time. She is to also pick a literary novel of her choosing to read and write a five thousand word essay on the characterization of the main characters and how it could relate to her life. Both need to be submitted by the end of the school year along with all of the other assigned pieces for the semester." Mr. Smith said.

"A very reasonable request." Spike said content to have at least one teacher on board.

"Dawn has missed three chapters since being gone. If she can catch up on those three chapters of assignments and pass a makeup test I will be perfectly happy with that. However, it would need to be completed within the next two weeks for the marks to be submitted on time." Mr. James said, Dawn's Math teacher.

"I'll make sure she gets it done. Can makeup tests be done for her Science and History classes?" Spike asked.

"Dawn hasn't missed much in History in the sense of tests. We've been reading chapters fifty to sixty-three. It focuses more on the French Revolution. Those chapters are vital for Dawn to read as we will be starting a new project that uses the French Revolution as a sounding board for the project. The project is individual based and we will be starting it tomorrow. If Dawn reads the chapters then she'll be fine in my class. I don't want to put any more pressure on her then I'm sure she is already feeling." Mrs. Roloft said with a warm smile to Spike.

"I appreciate that Luv. I'll make sure she reads the chapters tonight so she can be ready for class tomorrow." Spike said with a warm smile.

"Dawn has missed some in class labs, three of them. She is also three chapters behind. I will mimic Mr. James with a makeup tests on those three chapters. It needs to be completed within two weeks. As for the labs she can come to me either after school or on her lunch period to complete the three labs. Again they need to be completed within two weeks. If Dawn can do that then she will be in a good place. Her grades as they stand before this absence were very good. She's an excellent student." Mrs. Jackson said.

"She is a very bright girl and a pleasure to have in the class. She is always willing to answer questions or help her fellow students out. That's why I'm willing to work with her on things to help get her through this hard time." Mrs. Roloft said.

"I appreciate everything you are doing for her. She talks very highly of her teachers and this school. I can see why. It's refreshing to be in a place that cares so much for their students." Spike said with a friendly smile.

"There is three months left of the school year. Dawn needs to attend everyday unless sick with a doctor's note provided. Given her current home situation I am going to allow some leniency with the attendance rules. However, I am still concerned about Dawn's homelife and it being stable and fit enough for her. I'd like for her to speak with our school counselor once a week for one hour sessions." Mr. Kristoff said and they could both tell it wasn't a suggestion at all.

"I think that would benefit Dawn immensely. She needs someone that she can speak to freely that will hold no judgement to her or someone that she has to interact with outside of school. It would be very good for her to speak to a professional about her feelings. She can always talk to me, but it's different when it is family and a stranger. I'd like for her to start as soon as possible." Spike said easily.

"How the hell are you doing this?" Buffy asked shocked that Spike didn't have any fight or bite back at them. She would have been pissed long by now.

"I'll have her start tomorrow then. I'm confident that Dawn will be able to return to the student she was before all of the upset in her life. I appreciate you coming in today to speak with us. You have put our minds at ease." Mr. Kristoff said.

"I'm glad we were able to do this. It's important for me to see Dawn's educators as school is very important to me. I hold a Masters in Business and am encouraging Dawn to seek post-secondary education. I would hate to see that delayed or blemished by Dawn losing a semester for something that was not in her control like the death of her mother, her only parent. It can be so devastating and crippling to a child. I truly appreciate all of the patience and support you have given my niece." Spike said with a warm smile and Buffy couldn't help but laugh at him.

"You're amazing. You are totally making them feel guilty. Oh man I hate being stuck to you, but every now and then you do something fun." Buffy said with a smile.

"Dawn is a great student. We are very lucky to have her and it's good to see her back and in class. Please let us know if there is anything she needs help with to make this transition easier on her." Mr. Kristoff said with a small smile.

"I will. Thank-you for your continued support." Spike said with a friendly smile as he stood and the others stood as well.

Spike made sure to shake their hands before he headed out and gave a friendly goodbye to the receptionist as he headed out. Buffy couldn't help, but smile the whole time. She wouldn't have been able to handle that any better than Spike would have. She would have drilled into them about how their mother had just died and they were all being jerks about Dawn's schooling. Spike was very much passive aggressive with it and it worked.

"I had no idea you could be that passive aggressive. I mean seriously, I've seen you mad and pissed, but I've never seen you so calculated and manipulative. You would have been deadly if you had any real patience." Buffy said as they got into the car, Buffy not even having to open the door just slid right in and sat back. "I think I'm getting the hang of this ghost thing. It would be so much more fun if I could haunt other people though. I mean imagine all the trouble I could get into. It sucks that I can't grab things, because then I could steal money right from a bank vault. Or maybe I couldn't if the money doesn't become like invisible like me. Well I could just put it into my pocket over and over again. It would take longer, but that would totally solve your money problems. Or you could get your own money back from Angel. And what is up with that anyways? He got a soul shouldn't he have felt guilted into giving you your money back? But then again if he was to feel guilty about anything it should be what he did to you. And I'm totally rambling to myself."

Spike had already started the car and was heading towards the house. He was obviously completely oblivious to any of Buffy's ramblings.

"You have to be glad that's over. I thought for sure you were going to start yelling at them and being your usual rough self. But you totally shocked me with your real accent and not the street version you always use. You just might be full of surprises." Buffy said as she looked over at Spike.

Spike pulled into the driveway at the house and he got out. Buffy easily followed as they walked into the house. Instantly they both noticed that the place was clean and less cluttered.

"Glinda?" Spike called out.

Tara walked out of the kitchen with a cloth in her hand.

"Morning Spike. How did the meeting go?" Tara asked with a slight worry to her voice.

"Fine. The Bit won't lose the semester, but she has some catch up work to do. She also has to see the school counsellor one hour a week until the end of the school year." Spike said as he took his jacket off and placed it down over the back of the chair.

"Well that's good though. She can keep the semester and seeing someone would be good for her. I know she can't talk about Buffy's death, but she can talk about her mom's and how she's feeling with all of the change in her life right now." Tara said trying to sound positive and supportive.

"If she's open to it, it will be good for her. That principal's a wanker, but after a helpful dose of guilt he changed his tune. This place looks great." Spike said as he looked around.

"Thanks. Dawnie and me worked on it last night pretty hard. I read online about not having clutter would help getting a higher appraisal. We've been working to get it more organized and we have some boxes that are stored in the basement. We thought maybe we should do a garage sale or something to help get rid of what we can't take with us and we might get enough to pay for moving expenses."

"Good idea. The place will be small compared to this. Any extra dosh would be good."

"We figured that basic furniture we would take with us and any personal items. The rest could be sold. Did you see the gallery last night?"

"It's in good shape. I'll need to get a show together to get some pieces sold. Joyce had some contacts in a book I might be able to get a small show put together quickly enough."

"Do you think you can turn a profit on the gallery?"

"Joyce had it going fairly well until she got sick. That market is still here it's just a matter of tapping into it. It might be a slow process, but it'll get back up there again."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not yet. I'll work on something tonight. Is there anything left to be cleaned or organized before the relator?"

"There are just some boxes upstairs that have to go into the basement. Other than that I think it's pretty cleaned up."

"Right then." Spike said with a nod and he headed up the stairs to grab the boxes.

Buffy couldn't really do anything and it wasn't like she could talk to anyone so she just stood there watching as Spike and Tara moved around the house to get it ready. When the relator arrived Buffy saw that Spike and Tara both looked nervous about this. They had clearly never done anything like sell a house before, not to mention so much was riding on a good selling price. Spike went to answer the door and saw a woman and a man standing on the other side of the door. The woman gave Spike a warm smile as she spoke.

"I'm Nicole Mitchell, this is Michael Donovan a general contractor. Are you William Summers?"

"I am yes. Please come in." Spike said keeping his softer accent as he stepped back.

They walked into the house and Nicole took a look around from where she was standing.

"This is a nice size house." Nicole said.

"Thank-you. We're hoping to downgrade. It's too much house for us." Tara said with a warm smile.

"I get that a lot recently. Real estate market goes in trends, right now a lot of people are looking to downsize. Kids have all grown up, moved out. Michael is going to look through the house with me and he helps me come up with a fair offer on the house. He looks at all the main parts of the house so the plumbing, electricity, roof, foundation. Things like that. Anything that would bring forth a bad sell or what an inspector would find. It shouldn't take us very long to go through the house and I'll have a price for you by the end of it." Nicole said with a friendly smile.

"That'd be great. We appreciate it." Spike said.

Nicole and Michael went about the house looking at everything. Buffy couldn't help, but be a little worried, because she had no idea that they would be looking at everything so closely. She thought they would just go around and see how many bedrooms and bathrooms there were. She didn't think they would be looking at the plumbing or the roof. Nothing was wrong that she knew about, it all worked just fine when she was alive. Still it was nerve wracking even for her, she couldn't imagine what Spike and Tara were feeling. When Nicole and Michael headed down the stairs to the basement Tara looked over at Spike and Buffy could see the worry on her face.

"It'll be fine Luv." Spike said trying to reassure Tara.

"Everything is fine that we know of. But anything could be wrong with the pipes or the wiring and we wouldn't know. I know Joyce said the house was thirty years old when she got it. Anything could be wrong or outdated. I didn't think they would look at all that." Tara said with worry.

"Didn't know either, but can't do nuthin' now Pet. The price will be the price and we'll figure it out after."

"I looked real quick at the classified ads in the paper this morning. The cheapest two bedroom apartment was two grand a month plus utilities and it was in the bad part of town. I thought living in the dorms was expensive."

"I got a contact looking into something cheaper. Hopefully he can pull through for us. Red still plannin' on moving in?"

"She is, but when I told her we were selling the house and moving into a new place she didn't think it would be smart for her to move now. She's still going to move, but she's going to wait until we get into the new place. She's right, there isn't a point in her moving twice, especially when we are trying to pack everything anyways. She's going to help us with moving though and cleaning and she'll be here after classes."

"No it makes sense for her not to move twice."

"I haven't heard from Xander. I was going to maybe go into the Magic Shop and see him and Anya. I thought Xander could help with moving."

"Free to try, but don't hold your breath on that one Pet."

"They should be helping. It shouldn't just be you two trying to figure this all out." Buffy said clearly still mad at her friends for this situation.

"Was there any money left over from Joyce's life insurance?" Tara asked.

"Ten grand, but it automatically went into a college fund for the Niblet. We don't have access to it and even if we did I wouldn't take it."

"No that's her money for school or if she doesn't go then for a down payment for a house. What about their dad? Maybe he would be willing to pay child support for Dawn?"

"Good luck with that." Buffy said with a scoff.

"Even if we could get a hold of him, what would we say? He knows Joyce didn't have a half-sibling and he would want to speak to Buffy and he can't."

"I don't know. I guess there isn't anything we could say." Tara said and it was clear she was trying to come up with some way to help out with the finances. The problem was, she was a college student and she would only be able to make maybe three hundred a month. Most of her student loans go towards tuition and book fees. She wouldn't be much help in the bills department.

"I'll figure it out Pet. Don't worry too much about it." Spike said knowing what Tara was feeling.

"It shouldn't just have to be you trying to figure out how to make the bills work though Spike."

"You helpin' with the Bit at night so I don't have to worry about her helps a lot more than you are thinking Glinda. You being there for the Bit let's me work and there will be plenty of things to help out with at the Gallery with shows. Don't think what you are doing for the Bit isn't helpful."

Tara gave Spike a warm smile and they stayed quiet while they waited for Nicole and Michael to finish their assessment. It was fifteen minutes later when they both came up from the basement and Spike and Tara braced themselves for what the final number would be. The problem was, it would be the number no matter what they argued. It was up to the real estate agent to set the price on what she thought the house would be worth. They would be stuck with it no matter what it was.

"Ok, we have finished the appraisal. Michael went through the whole house and checked all the major problem areas. After the assessment I can comfortably say that we can set the asking price to two hundred and twenty thousand." Nicole said.

"That's it?" Tara asked slightly shocked by the number.

"We were expecting higher. Why so low?" Spike asked.

"The house is old and so is the plumbing. Its no longer up to proper code. The pipes will break within the next six months. It's a huge job that is around eighty grand to fix the whole house." Michael answered.

"With the plumbing the way it is we have to have the asking price drop by the price it would take to repair the pipes as no new owner will want to shovel it out on a three hundred thousand dollar home. After closing costs and lawyer fees, you're looking at two hundred thousand profit." Nicole added.

"And there is no way we can increase the asking price at all?" Spike asked.

"I'm afraid not. You will also need to have the rooms all freshly painted with just white on them to help with the selling of the house. Anything you can do to make it cleaner and more inviting. Cut the grass, lose any furniture that you can. I'll leave you a checklist that you can go through. If you follow it, I'm confident that we could have this place sold by the end of the month." Nicole said.

"Wow just three weeks really? Even in this market?" Tara asked slightly shocked at how fast it could be.

"It's a very good size of a house and in a very good area. Even in this market it will go quick at the right price and in good standing. If you agree to the price and my terms that we can go over, I have the contract we can discuss and sign today if you wish. The house could be on the market by the end of the day." Nicole said.

"Yes that would work for us." Spike said knowing they didn't have any other option right now.

With that Michael headed out and Tara, Spike, Nicole and Buffy huddled into the kitchen to go over the paperwork that they needed to sign. All of it was going over Buffy's head and she had no idea how Spike or Tara were keeping up, but they seemed to be able to follow the complicated paperwork. After another twenty minutes Nicole left and both Spike and Tara dropped the look on their faces. Spike collapsed down in one of the chairs as he was used to sleeping at this hour and not awake.

"I was really hoping it was higher than that." Tara said as she sat down on the couch.

"You guys are still going to be a hundred grand behind on the house. How are you going to make up the difference?" Buffy asked with concern at what Spike will have to do to make that money up.

"We didn't know the plumbing was on the way out. Two hundred grand is better than nothing." Spike said.

"It still leaves a hundred grand left on the house that needs to be paid off." Tara said.

"Better than three hundred. And with us sellin' the house we won't have to worry about the bank taking it. As long as we are payin' the min on the bank loan they won't have a reason to try and send it to collectors or to court."

"This is going to sound wrong, but what if we didn't pay it? Buffy's gone, its not like she'd have to pay it off one day." Tara said sounding guilty at even suggesting it.

"I would have done that already, but the house is in Joyce's name. When she died it was transferred automatically over to Buffy's name because she was old enough. I've gone over the fine print of the mortgage agreement. When the Niblet turns nineteen she is legally an adult in the eyes of the bank. If there is an outstanding debt on the house and the debt is not in good standing they can go after the Niblet for the money. If it wasn't for that order I wouldn't think twice about skippin' on the debt."

"But that would leave Dawn holding the bag one day when she is of age. We can't do that to her. Ok, what is the minimum amount roughly do you think?"

"Not that simple. Right now it is a mortgage and not a loan so the interest rate is lower. The second the bill of sale is put through the bank they will know we are no longer on a mortgage and didn't transfer it to a new place. The bank will change the terms of the mortgage to a loan and the interest rate will go up bout seven percent. Length of the loan will also change from twenty years to pay it off to maybe ten years if we get lucky. On the term we are on min would be six-fifty. New terms will make it bout fifteen hundred a month. Assumin' we can get ten years and not five years."

"How do you even know that?" Buffy said shocked once again at how much business Spike knew.

"Wow that's a jump. How are we going to negotiate a new term without Buffy?"

"We won't have a say. The bank will send a notice and we could then meet with them to try and negotiate a better term, but we won't be able to do it. We'll have to just pay it and hope it's not a five year loan."

"And if it is?" Buffy and Tara both asked at the same time, but Spike only heard Tara.

"It goes up to just over two grand a month. Most banks will be a ten year term though when it was initially a mortgage payment."

The phone rang and Tara got up to answer it.

"Do you just know all of these facts for fun or something? How do you know this stuff?" Buffy said to Spike still amazed that he even knows all of this information. Especially because he doesn't have a house or any bills he had to pay. Why would he even keep up with that information.

"Hello?" Tara said as she answered the phone.

"Hell ma'am, is Spike there?" The man asked.

"Yes, may I ask who is calling?"

"It's his mate Jackson. He called me about a place."

"Oh he's right here. One moment." Tara said and turned her attention to Spike as she handed him the phone. "It's Jackson. He said you called about a place."

"Ta Pet." Spike said as he took the phone and Tara went back to the couch. "Ello mate." Spike said into the phone.

"You just called him yesterday. How fast could he be at finding a place?" Buffy thought out loud.

"Morning Spike. A little early for you to be awake." Jackson said.

"And yet you called me. Do you have somethin' or do you just like wakin' me up?"

"I managed to find you a place. It's not great, but it's cheap."

"How bad?"

"I found it through a demon connection. It's just passed downtown so still in the good part of town. It's a house though. I've been trying to find you an apartment within your price range, but it's not possible. The pricing is insane for apartments and houses, but I found this one for you."

"You didn't answer my question Jackson." Spike said and he was getting a bad feeling in the pitt of his stomach.

"It's twelve hundred a month plus utilities so about fifteen hundred a month. Two bedrooms, a small unfinished basement and even a small fenced in yard and a garage. It passed the inspection and it's been on the market for six months now. The guy can't get it rented out. The whole place is about eight hundred square feet. It's a small house, but an apartment would be that small too. It is an older house, but there isn't anything wrong with it. Its available right away and you can be on a month to month lease. You can view it tonight there is a hide-a-key attached to the door and the code is 1234. Its 187 River Road. "

"Alright, I'll take the Bit by tonight after school and let ya know."

"I know it might not be that great, but to be honest Spike, it's the only place you'll be able to find in your price range. Everything else is overpriced. It's your best bet Mate." Jackson said knowing that Spike couldn't wait months for something better to come up.

"Alright. I'll see it tonight and let you know, but I'll do it. Everythin' works?"

"Yes I made sure of it. It's just ugly."

"Ok I'll take it. I'll go by tonight to let the Bit check it out. How soon could we move in?"

"I can get the paperwork for you tonight and then you could move in once everything is signed."

"I appreciate it Mate."

"It's no problem. If you want to pick the papers up I'll be at Der's to check in on him and the new baby."

"I'll stop by. 'ppreciate it."

"See you tonight then."

"See ya mate."

Spike ended the call and Tara looked anxious to see what Spike had to say.

"He found us a place that we can see tonight and move in once the paperwork is all signed, so two days if we want."

"That's fantastic. Where is it?" Tara asked trying to sound excited about it.

"River Road. Twelve hundred a month plus utilities. It's a two bedroom house, unfinished basement and a small fenced in yard. He said that it passed its inspection, everything works, but it's ugly and small."

"Ok we can look at it and if it's not in good shape we can always find something else right?" Tara said trying to sound positive about it.

"It's the only option we have. We can't wait two months for new options to come up. We need to be out before this place gets sold. The other apartments are all too expensive."

"It's this place or the street." Tara said with understanding in her voice. "That's ok. Then we make it our own. And a house will be nice for Dawnie. She's always lived in one and it's close to downtown and only about ten minutes farther for her school. We'll make it work. Being able to move in almost right away will be nice. It'll allow us to see what will fit and what we need to sell. Plus we have to paint here and we can do it without having to sleep in the fumes."

"Right Pet. Are you busy tonight or can you come see it after the Bit get's off school?"

"No I can come see it and then afterwards I told Willow I would meet her at the Magic Shop."

"I'll take the Bit with me afterwards to get the paperwork before I head off to work."

"Ok, I'll make sure to be back here by seven so Dawnie isn't alone."

"Ppreciate it Pet. I'll do a patrol afterwards then I'll come by tomorrow to help pack up."

"I have classes all day tomorrow until about four."

Spike gave a nod of acknowledgment as he got up. "You alright on your own? There's somethin' I need to take care of."

"No I'm fine. I'm just going to keep going through different rooms to see what I can do. There is also an attic so I thought I'd start there and work on bringing everything down."

"Make sure you leave anythin' heavy there and I'll bring it down. Don't hurt yourself Pet."

"I'll be careful. Go take care of what you need to. Don't worry about me Spike." Tara said with a warm smile.

Spike headed out of the house and got into his car. Buffy had no choice but to follow him once again.

"So where are we going?" Buffy asked with a smirk.

It had been fifteen days since she's died and before she had thought this was going to be Hell, but now it was just fun. Buffy knew that once this honeymoon of being outside and around Dawn again wore off she would go right back to thinking this was Hell. For now though she was going to have fun with it before it got annoying and frustrating.

"It's too bad I can't touch and move things. That would have been funny to watch." Buffy said with a smile.

Spike of course didn't say anything in return as he continued to drive down the street. Buffy noticed that they were going towards Giles' house.

"Why are you going to Giles'? He's not there, you know that." Buffy said.

Buffy had no choice, but to sit there and watch as the houses went by out of her window. She had no idea why Spike would be going this way or what he could possibly want at Giles' house, but it wasn't like she could get any answers out of him. Once they arrived at Giles' place Spike got out and Buffy slowly followed him. She didn't know what he was expecting to find. Giles was gone, there was no one here to talk to. She watched as Spike tried the door, but it was locked. He went over to his car and opened the glove box and pulled out a set of lock picks. He went back over to the door and bent down so he was eye level to the lock. Buffy watched as Spike began to pick the lock and was surprised that it opened after a few moments.

"How often do you do that?" Buffy couldn't help, but ask.

Spike walked in and closed the door behind him. Buffy had no choice, but to go through the closed door and into the house. She was shocked to see so much stuff had been left. Like Giles just wanted to get the hell out of town and didn't care about what he left behind. Even the wall of books were left.

"I guess he is coming back later for all of this." Buffy said as she took in the room.

Spike went over to the book shelves and started to go through them as he spoke to himself.

"Come on Watcher, I know you got some books here on her. What do you got?"

"Her who? What are you looking for?" Buffy asked as she tried to read the titles that Spike were.

Spike spent a moment going through the book titles before he started to pull some from the shelves. He tossed them down onto the desk before continuing on to the next shelf. Buffy took notice that most of the books were were about prophecies and mystical beings, including the dreaded book that told her she would die at sixteen. On top of those Spike started to grab some books that were in different languages that would help with translations. Once he was done with the bookshelves he went over to the desk and started to go through it for notes that Giles may have left.

"Why do you want this stuff? You've never shown any interest in books before." Buffy couldn't help, but ask. This went against who she thought Spike was. This was way left field for him. At least that she knew of.

Spike went through all of Giles' notebooks very roughly as he discarded the ones that wouldn't be any use to him and kept the ones he thought might be helpful. It was a good twenty minutes later when he was finally done. Spike grabbed the ten books and thirty notebooks that he had from Giles and headed back out to his car. Spike put the items into his trunk before getting into the car and heading back to his place. He was exhausted and he needed to get some sleep before he would need to be up tonight for work and for Dawn. Once back at his crypt Spike brought the items from his trunk into his bedroom area and placed them down on top of his dresser. He would look into them later when he had more energy. He was still healing from his wounds and he needed some blood then sleep. Spike headed up to grab a mug full of blood. He didn't even bother to get changed first. Once he had his blood he went back down into his bedroom and stripped naked before he got under the covers and fell asleep. Buffy went over to the other side of the bed and sat down with her back against the headboard. She knew that Spike wouldn't be awake until it was time to get Dawn from school. All she could do was wait the four hours before she could see Dawn again, but she took comfort in knowing that she would see Dawn tonight and that was all that mattered to her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was just after three thirty when Spike and Tara sat in Spike's car waiting for when Dawn would come out. They would head straight over to the new house to check it out and then afterwards Spike would take Dawn with him to Der's to get the paperwork. Spike had no idea what this place would look like and he was hoping it wasn't too bad. This was all he was going to be able to afford until they were able to get the house debt down. It wasn't going to be that simple to move around afterwards. Spike needed to get that loan down drastically before they would be able to afford anything else. Spike was really hoping the place wasn't a dump. He didn't want to have Dawn in a shitty house, especially after the one she was so used to. He wanted the best for Dawn and that included a decent house to call home. Five minutes after the bell rang Dawn came out of the school and looked relieved to see Spike's car there. She practically ran over to it and got into the backseat.

"Hey Spike, Tara." Dawn said as she sat down in the back.

"Hey Niblet. How was school?" Spike asked as he started the car and headed off.

"Not too bad, but I have to see the guidance counsellor. Mandatory for one hour a week. So not cool." Dawn complained.

"I know, but it was the best compromise that I could make. I did make it so you didn't lose the semester or have summer school. I would take it if I were you." Spike said.

"Seeing a counsellor won't be too bad Dawnie. Think of it as someone that you could tell them anything and they hold no judgements. The counsellor is there to help you with your mom's death and the adjustment afterwards. It could be a really good thing if you open your mind to it." Tara tried to help Dawn see the benefit of her current situation.

"Are you alway positive? Because I so would have just told her too bad and suck it up." Buffy said.

"Ya I guess. I does get me out of an hour of school a week so that's a plus. And all of my teachers talked to me today about what I need to do for them. Thanks for no summer school Spike. That would have totally ended my social life." Dawn said.

"No problem Bit. It's only a few more months until you get out for the summer. You can make it work and start fresh in the new school year."

"Ya ok. Not that I don't appreciate you both picking me up from school, but what's up? Where are we going?" Dawn asked as she knew they weren't going in the direction of home.

"Got a call from my mate. He found us a new place. We're goin' to check it out." Spike answered.

"Oh cool. Where is it?" Dawn asked surprised that they had found something so fast.

"It's close to downtown and it's a two bedroom house. There's even a small backyard that is fenced in." Tara answered.

"Awesome we can still live in a house? That's so cool and close to downtown which means closer to the mall." Dawn said with a smile.

"Hopefully it's not too bad. Afterwards we're gonna drop Glinda off at the shop and then me and you are going to a mate's place. He's got the paperwork we need for the lease and his wife just had a sproug."

"A baby really? Aww that's awesome. I love babies." Dawn said with a huge smile that Buffy hadn't seen in awhile.

"It's half-demon Bit so I make no promises on the cute factor." Spike informed.

"Hey a baby is a baby. They are all cute." Dawn argued back.

"I've seen some pretty ugly babies in my time Bit." Spike said with a smirk.

"That's terrible Spike." Dawn scolded.

Tara gave a small chuckle to that.

"What are you gonna do at the Shop?" Dawn asked.

"Willow will be there and I thought it would be good to check in with everyone. Willow is going to live with us at the new place, so I can let her know all about it." Tara answered.

"Cool." Dawn said without a care either way.

"Were you happy to see all of your friends again?" Tara asked.

"Ya they were all excited that I was back. It's nice to be back to a normal routine anyways."

"I bet it is. Not havin' a Hell God tryin' to kill you will do that to ya." Spike said.

"Ya that part is really nice. Still though, it feels weird not having Buffy around. It feels like I'm betraying her by moving on or having fun with my friends again." Dawn admitted sadly.

"No Dawnie, you're not. I don't want you to be miserable. I want you to be happy and to live. I told you that before I jumped. I want you to live. Don't ever feel bad about that." Buffy said once again hating that no one could hear her.

"No sweetie, she would want you to move on and continue living. She would want all of us to. She didn't just die for you, she died for all of us, for this world. The worst thing we could do is not live. The best way you can show Buffy how much you love her is by living your life and being happy." Tara explained gently.

"Glinda's right Bit. As hard as it is, you have to find happiness again. Your big sis and mum wouldn't want you to mourn for them. They want you to live it's the best gift you can give em." Spike added.

"I'm trying. It's hard, but I'm trying. And fresh start right here right? New home with all new memories to make." Dawn said trying her best to sound positive about the numerous changes in her life.

"That's right. Only the memories that we make in it. A clean slate." Tara agreed.

"And this is it." Spike said as he parked out front of the house.

The house itself looked like a small cottage. It was white, but the siding was so filthy that it looked like a very light brown colour. The grass was knee high with flower beds overrun by weeds. It was in rough shape and it was filthy, but they could clean it up and make it their own.

"Not much curb appeal." Spike said as he looked around.

"No, but nothing some cleaning won't fix. Let's see the inside." Tara said with a warm smile.

Spike went first up the short walk way to the front door. He keyed in the code and the lock box opened for the key. Spike unlocked the door and they walked in. He flicked on the lights as he went by. The three of them stood in the living room and took in the house that they could see. It was all an open concept so they could see the kitchen that was off to the right of the stairs from the living room. The living room worked as a dining room as well. The whole first floor was the size of the living room and kitchen at the other house. The stairs going up to the second floor only had eight steps to them. They also looked like they could use some repairs to them. The whole place was covered in dust and dirt. The walls were a horrible blue and pink flowers built right into the wood siding. The kitchen had lime green coloured cabinets, all six cupboards. The fridge and stove were white, but they were at least ten years old. It was a small, filthy, crappy house.

"This is different." Dawn said as she took it all in and they could all hear the disappointment in her voice.

"Different isn't always a bad thing though. It just needs a female touch." Tara said as she walked into the main living area.

"It needs to be bulldozed." Buffy said as she took it in. The problem was, she wouldn't have even been able to afford this place. She wasn't judging Spike or holding any of this against him. He was at least trying to help with bills and take care of Dawn. In all reality, Buffy would have been able to afford a bachelor apartment for them if she was lucky. This was already a better place than she could have done.

"Like what?" Dawn asked.

"You just need to look at it through a different perspective. We clean the floors and make them all shiny and new. Clean the windows for the natural sunlight that we'll get in the mornings. A fresh coat of pale yellow on the walls to get rid of the flowers and a fresh coat of white on the cabinets. We can put the couch here along this wall." Tara said as she motioned towards the window. "Hang our curtains and get a small table that we can eat at. This place could be really great with a little bit of work and some cheap paint." Tara said positively and both Spike or Buffy could understand how she could be so happy right now.

"Ya you're right. It just needs some love. Plus it's own right? We treat it like a blank canvas and see what we create. Let's see upstairs." Dawn said with a smile now.

They made their way up the stairs and saw the bathroom. It was at least all white and it didn't look too bad. It was small, but they didn't expect much with a house this size. The two bedrooms were both the same size, about the size of Dawn's current room, which made her happy that she wouldn't have to get rid of much. Both had decent size closets and would work for the girls to be living in. They both faced the back of the house and from the windows they could see the small backyard. A quarter of the size that they currently have, but it was all fenced in and it would work for them.

"We could plant a garden and grow our own vegetables." Tara said as they walked down to check out the basement.

"Really? I've never had a garden before. Is it easy?" Dawn asked sounding excited.

"It can be. We can start off with simple ones like carrots and then go up from there." Tara answered.

"That would be cool." Dawn said.

"Said the girl who can't keep a fish alive." Buffy said with a smirk.

"This isn't too bad. We have a hook up for a washer and dryer." Tara said.

"We can bring the ones from the house. Saves the trouble of draggin' it somewhere." Spike said.

"We should bring the cot too. There's enough room down here for you to crash when you need to." Dawn said.

"There's a small storage space under the stairs that should come in handy for Christmas decorations." Tara said as she opened the small storage under the stairs.

"Well what do you think Birds? Is this your new home?" Spike asked.

"I think we can so make this work. It just needs some love." Dawn said with a warm smile.

"We can make this our home with all new memories." Tara said as she placed her arm around Dawn's shoulders.

"Let's go see a man about some paperwork then." Spike said.

The three of them headed up the stairs and Buffy spoke.

"I'm proud of you three, especially you Dawnie. You're taking this very well. A lot better than I would be."

They got into the car and drove off for the Magic Box.

"So is Willow really going to move in?" Dawn asked.

"She said she would be. Now that we have a place and can move in when we are ready she'll start packing up and she said she would help with packing up the house. Between Willow, Spike and me someone will always be home with you. We'll make it work." Tara answered.

"How are we going to move our stuff?" Dawn asked.

"Rent a moving truck for the day. Anything we can't sell we'll have to give it away or dump it." Spike answered.

"We should be able to have a couple of yard sales though before the house is sold to help with costs. I am also going to be working as a tutor to help out." Tara added.

"I can get a part-time job you know." Dawn offered.

"You're job is school Bit." Spike immediately said.

"I know, but that's done in three months. There's no reason why I can't work during the summer somewhere. Even if it is to save up for any back to school supplies or clothes I might need." Dawn argued.

"You're fifteen you should be out with your mates, not workin'." Spike argued back.

"There's that old Victorian in you. Though I agree with you. She should be having fun as a kid and not working." Buffy said.

"I can do both. I'm old enough to get a job, I don't need permission. I can work during the day on weekends for now and then in the summer it could open to other days. I promise I'll only work day shifts and be off before sunset. And the money I make can just be my own for clothes, school or food, time with friends. It won't be much, but it'll help with the bills."

"I don't want you worryin' about money Bit. That's not your responsibility." Spike said.

"I know, but I'm also not an idiot. I know it takes money to live and survive. I don't mind working to help, even if the money is just mine to spend. I also have to worry about college fees. I can save up for them. I want to do this Spike."

"We can't exactly stop her Spike. Having a part-time job could be good for her. Teaches her responsibility and she could make new friends outside of school." Tara said calmly to Spike.

"Let her help Spike. I don't like it anymore than you do, but if she really wants to and thinks she can handle it, then you should let her." Buffy said to add in her two cents.

Spike let out a small growl before he spoke. "Fine, but the second your school work starts to go down you quit."

"Deal. I promise I won't let it affect my school. Graduating high school is the only way I'm ever gonna get out of this town. I have dreams and I'm going to make sure I accomplish them."

"What dreams?" Buffy asked.

"Good for you. What dreams?" Tara asked.

"I want to see the world. I don't know how yet, but I want a job where I can see the world and help people. It'd be so cool to get my pilot's license and then I could fly my own plane to different countries and maybe be some kind of aid worker or something. I don't know. I do know that getting out of this town is the first step."

"Wow, flying a plane that would be amazing for you to learn and it would open up a lot of doors for you." Tara said.

"I can't imagine anyone trusting you to fly a plane." Buffy said.

"It's a lot of work if you want to be able to explore the world Bit. Find the right job with the right pay and you'll be able to. You need University or College though." Spike said.

"Ya, but I don't know what I would do. What job makes a lot of money?" Dawn asked.

"Doctors." Tara supplied.

"All that blood, eww no thanks." Dawn said with a shiver.

"Lawyers." Tara said.

"Um.. maybe. But that's like seven years after I graduate. I don't want to wait that long."

"Advertisers or someone with a strong business, but that takes years to build up, sometimes decades." Spike suggested.

"Not really into business. I don't know how mom always understood it. Plus I want to help people."

"Lawyers can make millions a year, especially corporate lawyers. That would give you the money you need to see the world. You could start an aid charity that helps third world countries or children." Spike said.

"What do corporate lawyers do?" Dawn asked.

"They deal with business contracts and business laws, but they can also help with contracts and mergers. Its business focused, but they have a five thousand dollar retainer fee and a minimum fee of ten grand and that's just the new lawyers out of school. You can pass the State Bar Exam that let's you practice within the State, but there is also two other bar exams that allow you to practice anywhere within the country and anywhere in the world. They're hard to pass, but if you do, you could go anywhere for any client." Spike explained.

"Really?" Dawn said sounding interested.

"Ya they can also help with startup businesses to help them get their company on the map. They also go over to different developing countries and help with human rights. Takes seven years to graduate law school, but you can take courses in high school during the summer to fast track your graduation so you could graduate at seventeen and then start taking pre-law classes during the summer months and every year afterwards. You could be done at twenty-one instead of twenty-five."

"How do you know so much about it?" Tara asked curiously.

"My Mate Der is a corporate lawyer. He works in both demon law and human law. He also guest lectures at various law schools including Harvard. He lives here, because his wife's family is all here and he didn't want her to have to leave her community. He travels when he needs to, but mostly he works from home remotely with clients all over the world." Spike explained.

"Wow, who knew someone like that was living in Sunnydale." Dawn said surprised.

"More than you think. This is a strong and good demon community. Once a demon finds one like this they don't tend to leave em. Der makes it work. We're goin' to see him tonight Bit. If you are interested in learnin' more just ask him."

"Ya I think I will. I don't know what I want to do and I never thought I would want to be a lawyer, but if I can make good money and help people then maybe I will. I could always take a law course for fun this summer and see what I think. Either way I think I'll fast track and graduate early. No point in waiting around." Dawn said.

"It's up to you Sweetie. We won't make you stay for school here if you'd rather be somewhere else. I can understand the desire to go and explore and discover new things. It's not easy living in a town like this." Tara said.

"I just want more than having to worry about my life all the time when it's dark. I want to have a family one day. I want kids and I don't want to have to worry every time they walk out the door."

"There's nothin' wrong with that Bit. I want you to leave and find a life somewhere. The best thing you can do is go explore the world and find who you are. As long as you are happy and safe that's all that matters." Spike said.

"Ya, you should go and explore. I want you to have the life that I never could. Don't stay in Sunnydale on my account." Buffy said.

"I'll talk to your friend and see what he has to say about it. I'll do some research and take a law class this summer and see what I think of it. If I don't like it then I go back to the drawing board."

"That's all you can do. You'll find something that makes you excited." Tara said with a smile as they pulled up to the shop. "I'll be back at the house shortly. I just wanted to update Willow and see what is going on. Should I make some dinner?"

"I'll feed the Bit somethin' don't worry. I'll be back at the house in two hours or so." Spike said.

"Ok I will see you both then. Tonight, Dawnie we should work on getting more things organized in the house too." Tara said.

"For sure. Now that we have a place I can start packing my stuff up." Dawn easily agreed.

"Be careful gettin' home." Spike said.

"I will. Be safe yourself."

"See ya Glinda."

"Bye Tara."

"Bye Sweetie." Tara got out of the car and Spike waited until she was inside before he took off for Der's home.

"I'm not sure how I feel about you taking my sister to see a demon, even a half-demon." Buffy said.

"So what is Der like?" Dawn asked.

"He's a good bloke. I've known him for a long time now, he's got three kids. One is fourteen, Sara she goes to your school."

"Really? So they look human?"

"They do ya Bit. Their demon doesn't show unless they want it to. They have a little bit of added strength, but otherwise they are human."

"That's all? I would have thought being half-demon they would have some kind of power or something."

"Normally, but they are so far down the bloodline the demon's DNA almost isn't there for em."

"Oh, ok." Dawn simply said with a shrug.

"Wouldn't take you around anyone dangerous Bit."

"I know you wouldn't. I trust you Spike. One day I'm going to pay you all back for this. I'm going to make your proud."

"You don't owe me anything Sweet Bit. All I want is for you to be happy and living your life. I'm proud of you everyday you try." Spike said honestly.

"Ok, where did the asshole vampire go that kept trying to kill me and my friends? Did your fall off the tower knock something loose in your brain? I mean seriously you can't be like this naturally. It should be impossible for you to be this nice and sweet to my sister. I don't get this." Buffy said sounding more confused than ever.

Buffy knew that Spike wasn't your traditional vampire, but still she never expected for him to be this different than what she always saw. It made no sense to her why he was still even here. She was dead, his obsession was gone so why would he stay here? Why would he take care of Dawn when he could have walked away without any problems or guilt from it? Buffy didn't think she would ever understand why Spike was doing this, especially when her own friends and family weren't.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Spike pulled up to Der's house and both Dawn and Buffy were shocked at how nice it was. It was easily a million dollar home, which made sense considering what Spike said Der does for a living.

"Um wow." Dawn simply said as they got out.

"I told you he makes a great deal of dosh. It's not a crime to like nice things Bit."

"This is really nice. So talking to him now." Dawn said with a smile.

They walked up to the front door and Spike gave a small chuckle to what Dawn had said. Spike knocked before he opened the door and walked in.

"They don't lock it?" Dawn and Buffy both asked at the same time.

"No need to within the community." Spike simply said.

Der walked around the corner and gave Spike a warm smile.

"Look who's up and walking around. How are you mate?" Der asked.

"All good. Der this is Dawn."

"Yes I've heard about you. You mean a great deal to Spike, that makes you family." Der said with a warm smile.

"Um thanks." Dawn said slightly shy as she wasn't used to meeting new people or demons for that matter.

"No need to be shy. My home is your home. Come on in and meet the others. Jackson is here with some paperwork for you too." Der said to Spike.

"Ta." Spike said and guided Dawn into the living room where Der's wife was along with Mick and Jackson.

Der's wife, Lisa, was holding her newborn baby daughter while Mick and Jackson were talking. They all looked up at them when they walked into the room.

"This is Dawn." Der said making the introductions. "Dawn this is my beautiful wife Lisa and our new daughter Elle. This is Mick and Jackson, they are dear friends of ours. My other daughter Sara is just in the kitchen and my son Sean is in his room."

"Hello Dawn, it's good to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Der." Lisa said with a warm smile.

"Really?" Dawn asked surprised.

"Of course. Spike talks about you all the time. How are you doing with everything? Are you adjusting okay?" Der asked with concern in his voice.

"Ya not too bad. I have some school work to catch up on from missing three weeks, but I'll be okay." Dawn answered.

"She's thinkin' about what she wants to do once she graduates. I told her about some of what you do. She's hopin' to pick your brain about it." Spike said.

"I'd love to. Have you been interested in law before?" Der asked.

"Never thought about it. Honestly, I just want a job that I could be good at, help people and make good money. I want to see this world and one day I want a family and I want to show my kids the world. I need a job that will let me do that and I can't really handle blood so being a doctor is out. Spike mentioned you work in corporate law and it sounding interesting." Dawn explained.

"Well I'd love to explain it to you. Give you a feel of what I do during the day and you can see what you think. If you want, one day during the summer you could shadow me at work. Get a real first person view of it all." Der offered.

"Seriously?" Dawn asked shocked.

"Of course. I'm a firm believer that you can't pick a career until you've gotten to experience it first hand. I do a lot of different things during the day it would be very beneficial for you to see some of it."

"Ya I'd love to. That sounds awesome." Dawn said.

"Come on, I'll explain some of what I do in the kitchen. It's my night to make dinner. Spike, you're staying." Der said with a warm smile as he placed a supportive hand on Dawn's shoulder.

"I never say no to free food." Spike said with a smirk.

"I hope you like Quesadillas Dawn." Der said.

"Um love them." Dawn said with a smile.

"Are you just going to let my sister be taken away by some demon? Seriously Spike that's not okay. You don't know what he could do to her." Buffy said with concern at seeing her sister go off with an older man.

" _She's in good hands. You don't need to worry about her."_ A male voice said in her head and Buffy instantly spun around to see who the hell had just spoken to her.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy asked confused.

" _Not what, who. It's okay ma'am, no need to be alarmed."_

"Who are you?" Buffy asked going into full Slayer mode.

" _Jackson. My demon blood has a strong psychic abilities. I can see and communicate with those that are in between realms."_

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked confused as Spike went over to see Lisa and the baby.

" _It means you are in between Heaven and Hell. Humans call it Limbo, but that is too much of a simple term for it. You are in a void, a waiting period."_

"A waiting period for what?"

" _That I cannot answer. The world decides where one's soul goes once they leave their body. You are a Slayer though so you will go to Heaven eventually. It could be the portal you jumped into has delayed your soul from crossing over. The universe has to work on correcting the problem."_

"And how long could that take?"

" _Could be minutes, could be years. The universe is a funny place. But to ease your concerns Der is a very good man. He only wishes to help people, especially those that are young. He believes that the young generation will be the key to repairing the damage done to this world. He will not harm her. Only bore her with details about his work."_

"Ok, but if you can hear me and see me, than that means you could tell someone that I'm stuck here and they could do something to fix it."

" _I cannot do that."_

"Why the hell not? I'm stuck following Spike around. Not even one of my friends, but Spike. This isn't a void this is a version of Hell here." Buffy said with anger now growing in her voice.

Jackson chuckled before he spoke. _"Being anchored to a man that loves you is Hell to you? And to answer your question I won't say anything because it would hurt Spike too much to hear that you are with him, but he can't hear, see or touch you. To know that he would have to lose you all over again. I won't put him through any more heartache than he already is in. You will simply just have to wait until you're soul reaches its destination."_

"Then don't tell him. Tell my friends and they can hurry up the process."

" _I care for my friend and his well-being. No offense Slayer, but it is not my job to interfere with those that have crossed over. You should have automatically gone to Heaven once you died, but your soul didn't. Someone is trying to teach you something and until you have learnt that, you will be attached to Spike. Is it so bad to be able to see your sister growing up? If you were in Heaven you wouldn't have been able to. You would be in a white void filled with peace and warm feelings. You wouldn't have been able to watch over your sister like most believe. All you would have seen is white light. Being attached to Spike allows you to watch over your sister and friends until Spike is killed. Seems like a gift to me, even if that leash is attached to Spike."_

"But why Spike. Or is it just because he is close to immortal?"

" _Could be or it could be the lesson you need to learn is connected to him. He is not your average vampire as you have already seen."_

"Why is he so different? He went from looking to kill me and my friends to taking care of my sister. What's his gain in all of this?"

" _There is none. He isn't doing this for some type of reward. Not like your previous vampire lover who is helping the helpless with the hopes of being granted a mortal life again. Spike simply cares for Dawn. He has claimed her as his own and sees her as a little sister. He will die to protect her without hesitation or remorse. He simply loves her. Just like he loves you. He would have died for you. He would have easily taken your place that night. Despite what you think Spike can love, he loves stronger than a human does. Yourself and Dawn are not the first humans that Spike has grown attached to and you will not be the last. Though he has never fallen in love with a human before, not since he was killed. Your death will haunt him forever."_

"Why is he different? Vampires don't feel love or emotions. They don't get attached to humans. So why does he? Der was talking about how he feels pain like a human does. That he's different for some reason. What is the reason?"

" _No one knows. Sometimes vampires come out different. Could be that Drusilla was too unstable to sire him properly. Left too much of the human inside of him. It could be that he has more human DNA in him than demon, like half-breeds have. Any number of reasons could be contributed to why Spike is the way he is. Some believe he is part of an unknown prophecy. A warrior that can walk in the darkness and in the light, metaphorically speaking of course. We may never know why Spike is so unique and rare. The question you shouldn't be asking is why. The question you should be asking yourself is, can you accept that he's different than your initial thoughts? How much of your own judgement of him will you let cloud what your eyes are seeing of him?"_

"You make it sound like it's so simple." Buffy said annoyed.

" _But it is. You are no longer bound by the rules and bigoted views of your Watcher and friends. You are able to see the world for what it truly is without any hold back. What harm would it be to yourself if you admitted that things were not as they appeared to be? That Spike is capable of love? You are dead. You cannot bring back the dead. Why not let yourself see the world with new eyes? You may find that you are less confused that way."_

"I don't understand the point of any of this. What's it matter if I learn something new? I'm not going back. You said it yourself, I'm dead and going to stay that way. This is pointless." Buffy said with anger.

" _To you it is right now, but maybe you won't always feel that way. I think the anger you feel is because you are starting to see that your once perfect world is far from it. That maybe you have misjudged some characters in your life. For whatever the reason the universe wants you here to see these things, you are and you might as well make the best of it."_

"But I can't talk to any of my friends. I can't touch anything. I can't even let them know I'm here. What exactly am I supposed to make the best of? Being stuck with Spike, my number one enemy."

" _Former enemy. Now he seems like the best alli you have. He is the one taking care of your sister and not your two best friends or Watcher. He is the one out there slaying the vampires and demons. He's the one working all night to pay the bills, your bills technically. You were put with Spike for a reason and one day that reason will be made clear. For now find joy and comfort in knowing that someone is taking care of your sister and you get to still watch her grow up. Being with Spike surely can't be all that bad if you get to see your sister regularly."_

"No it's not. And I know there are worst places that I could have ended up. I just wish I knew why. And why the hell does it matter if he gets human blood or not? Pig's blood works just fine does it not? Angel survived off of it." Buffy said asking the question that had been bothering her now that she had someone that could hear her.

" _It's not as simple as he would like you to believe. Angel often mixed his blood with human blood that he bought from Willy's or the hospital. Spike would occasionally buy it from Willy, but once he discovered he was in love with you he stopped knowing that you wouldn't approve. Pig's blood is close to the bottom of the ladder for blood quality. It will keep him alive and help heal injuries with time, but it won't give his demon the strength that it needs. He won't be as strong as he'd naturally would be and he will tire faster. Spike has never let it hold him back, but he could have truly used the full strength of his demon during that fight with the Hell Goddess. Larger and naturally stronger animals will give him more strength, but human blood is what his demon needs to be at full strength. However, three to five pints a week is all his demon needs with the right amount of animal blood."_

"It is true that the butcher will only give a vampire so much?"

" _It is. That's why there are bite houses in town. Not all vampires want to kill to survive. The Butcher will only give so much out a week unless the Slayer specifies otherwise. Slayers don't do that though, at least not in the last six decades."_

"Why do I have to give permission? How would the butcher even know?"

" _No one opens a butcher's shop and gets people buying animal blood without knowing what they are getting into. Animal blood sales are just as high as meat sales, especially in a Hellmouth. Spike being so high up in the blood line hinders him in this situation. The butcher is afraid to give him more blood because it would make him stronger and that could hinder you. The butcher doesn't want to cross you so those vampires that are weak minions or bite whores get more blood because they hold no threat to you. He can't give Spike more blood without your say so and now that you are dead buying blood will be even harder. Vamps will demand more and the butcher will have no choice but to give it to them. Der and I will figure out something to ensure that Spike receives enough blood."_

"You guys are pretty close huh?"

" _We have been there for each other through a great deal. Spike is a very good man and a good friend to us. You will see in time."_

"Well at least I have you to talk to right?"

" _Yes you always will as long as you are around."_

"Will he notice me? Sometimes he'll answer a question that I ask or he'll look around like he senses something, but can't see anything."

" _Spike is very powerful and he does have remarkably strong senses due to his age. It's possible he feels like someone is there, but if he does he is most likely blowing it off to paranoia or wishful thinking. If he knew you were there with him it would keep him from moving on. He would become obsessed with trying to find a way to help you fully crossover into Heaven. As much as he would want you to be back here with him, he is not about to rob you of your final reward either. Spike is very intelligent and he knows a great deal about magic. I do not wish for him to play with it though and he would if he thought it would release you from this void you are in. His love for you is great, so great he would destroy himself if it helped you. Most humans do not love that deeply, but the love he felt as a human was intensified by the demon. You had a very powerful weapon on your hands and you didn't even know it."_

"I knew he was powerful it's why I wanted him around with my mom and Dawn to protect them against Glory. I didn't know about the blood though, if I had I might have given him some human blood before the fight. He might not have lost that fight on the tower if he was at full strength. That could have changed everything. And you're right. I do get to watch Dawn grow up for however long I'm here. That is a blessing and if that blessing comes wrapped around Spike then I'll put up with him. He is doing a lot for my sister, more than I ever expected him to be doing. He deserves that much loyalty."

" _Yes he does and he deserve a great deal more, but I have a feeling you will see that for yourself."_

"Spike mate, I have the paperwork for the lease for you. Did you check the house out yet?" Jackson said out loud now that Spike and Lisa seemed to be finished talking.

"I did. Took Glinda the good witch and the Bit with me."

"How was it?" Mick asked.

"Let's just say I've seen worse, but also haven't. Glinda was real good about it though and got the Bit lookin' at it like it was their canvas to do with what they will. A fresh coat of paint and a good cleanin' and Glinda thinks it'll be perfect for em." Spike said with a shrug.

"The bones of the house are good the rest is just in rough shape. I can help with painting or cleaning." Jackson offered.

"Ppreciate it." Spike said as he took the lease from Jackson.

"What about the other house? Can you sell it?" Mick asked.

"Relator came by today, asking price is two-twenty. Three is left on the house."

"Ouch. You'll be lucky if you clear two hundred after fees and closing costs. You'll be down a hundred grand. The bank will want to renegotiate the terms of the loan on top of that." Mick said.

"Hence the moving into a shitty house." Spike said clearly not happy about it.

"Is it that bad?" Lisa asked with concern.

"No, it's not that. If the Bit had been livin' in an apartment her whole life, this being the first house would be perfect and a step up. But she lives in an amazin' house right now. The only home she ever really has lived in with her own true memories. The house her Mum wanted her girls to be in. It's just bricks and wood I know, but feels like I'm letting em all down." Spike admitted.

"You're not though. Dawn isn't even your concern or problem to figure out. Her dad should be doing it or those friends of the Slayer should. You're doing what you can to keep her from being on the streets and starving. That's not letting anyone down. And who cares what it looks like. A house is just a house until the people within it make it a home. The good witch is right." Mick said.

"I know. Just an adjustment period ya. We're keepin' the gallery and I'm gonna get it back up and runnin'. It'll take a bit of time and work to rebuild it up, but it'll be somethin' to help with money comin' in."

"Mick said you were fighting. Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jackson asked with concern.

"Don't have much options right now. I'll have to until somethin' comes up in the community." Spike said still not happy about the pointless fighting himself.

"We'll put the word out that you're looking for work. Some freelance stuff will come up I'm sure." Mick said.

"Ta mate. I'll fill these out for ya." Spike said as he held up the lease to Jackson.

Spike got up and headed into the kitchen to grab a pen and get the paperwork done. Dawn was in there chatting up a storm to Der about his work.

"How's the learnin' goin' Bit?" Spike asked as he sat down at the island.

"Pretty good. Der's job sounds pretty interesting. I'm excited to be able to see it in person after school is finished. I think I'll definitely take the law class during the summer and get a good feel for it. Thank-you Der for talking to me about it all."

"It's no problem I am happy to help." Der said back with a warm smile.

A young girl walked into the kitchen from outside and Buffy figured it must be Sara.

"Hey Spike. I didn't know you were here." Sara went over to give Spike a hug that he easily returned.

"Just popped by for some paperwork. This is my mate Dawn. Dawn this is Sara."

"Hey its nice to meet you." Sara said with a wave.

"You too. I've seen you around school actually in the halls." Dawn said as she recognized the girl.

"Ya I thought you looked familiar. Are you guys staying for dinner?"

"We are ya." Dawn answered.

"Awesome, wanna check out my room?"

"Ya sure." Dawn said with a smile.

Sara led Dawn away to where Buffy wouldn't be able to see her.

"Thanks for talkin' with her. She wants more out of life than the normal townie." Spike said.

"That she does and you know I don't mind. Kids need something to be excited about and looking forward to in their future. It helps them fight to achieve it all. She's a bright girl too. How was the house? Jackson said it was in rough shape." Der asked giving Spike his full attention.

"It is. Glinda got the Bit excited about it though. Fresh paint and some cleaning Glinda thinks it'll be good as new."

"Somethings just need a woman's touch. How much are you gonna be able to sell for?"

"Two-twenty tops."

"Shit. Why so low?"

"Problem with the pipes. They are outdated and not up to code. New home owners will have to pay close to eighty grand to fix em. At min we'll be short a hundred could be one-twenty if we don't get the askin' price."

"I'm going to propose two things to you and I know you probably won't take either option but, why don't I draft something and send it to Angelus legally forcing him to sign over your money?"

"You can't force him you know that. I legally signed it away a century plus ago and he has that proof. The only reason he didn't burn it all was because he thought it would be funnier to watch it grow with interest knowing that I'll never have it. I wouldn't be surprised if he was using it to support his little family and business down there."

"We could take it to court." Der started, but Spike cut him off.

"Admit in court, for public records, that Angelus tortured me for decades. Raped me until I signed away my money. I'll bloody well pass and he knows it. Even if he loses he'll come out the winner. The only way he's signing over that money is if someone physically forces him to. I can't. I'm not strong enough with my current diet. Ironically enough the only person who could have forced Angelus to do anything was the Slayer. But we both know that's not happenin' even if she was alive."

"I would now, but only because I saw what he did to you two weeks ago." Buffy said.

"What if I went down there with the paperwork and got him to sign?" Der offered.

"He won't sign it. You know that. It'll only make him come up here again and I'm not in the mood to deal with him."

"Then will you at least let me give you the money to cover the house?" Der tried.

"No and you know that. I'll pay it off. I'm fighting at the club and I'll start picking up some freelance work soon. I'm working on the gallery that the Bit's Mum had going to get it back up and runnin'. I'll pay it off."

"It's not going to be that easy and you know it. Between the gallery, working and taking care of Dawn, you're going to be exhausted. I'm your friend, why won't you let me help you? How long have we've been friends for?"

"Long enough for you to know I'm not gonna take money from ya."

"A hundred grand is equivalent to a dollar to me. You know that."

"That's not the point Der and you know it. I handle my own business and I pay my own debts. I don't take money from friends."

"I can argue that this isn't your debt to take on."

"No its Buffy's, but she's gone and once the Bit is of age the bank will come after her and you know it. If I don't help the Bit, then who will? Who's gonna make sure she's not livin' on the streets and starvin'? Buffy's friends? They blame the Bit for her death. Promise or not, I'm not gonna let my girl be out there strugglin' when she should be living her life. I'm no stranger to hard work."

"I'm not saying to leave it to Dawn. That wouldn't be fair, but it's not fair to you to have to deal with everything either. You know I don't mind giving you the money or loaning it to you at a better rate at least. You wouldn't have to stress over monthly payments."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I know you. The second I try to give you any money you won't take it. That will make me very pissed off at you and our good friendship will turn to shit over money. You want to help so badly then find me some work that I can get lined up. Or clients looking to buy art."

"I can do that. How many pieces are at the gallery?"

"Twenty paintings, ten statues small to medium in size."

"Can the gallery hold more?"

"It could eventually. There is a top floor that is unrented, but it would cost double for the rent each month. Three grand is right currently there. There used to be a girl workin' there durin' the day, but I haven't reached out to her yet. Not too sure I can work it just yet. I'm gonna work on gettin' a quick show together for the weekend. Don't know how many will turn out on short notice, but better than nothin'."

"Five days from now. Short notice, but I'll let my clients know and anyone else I think of in the community. How many people can it hold at one time?"

"A hundred and it could double if I could get enough profits to get the second floor."

"I'll put the word out. We blow up the gallery then you wouldn't have to worry about working outside of it."

"That's the plan and it can be somethin' the Niblet can have once she graduates."

"I'll help put the word out and be there for it. You've had successful businesses before, you can do it again with this one. I'll always be here to help you out Spike."

"I know mate. I'll make it work. It'll take some time, but everythin' will get there."

"How are you doing after everything? Dawn seems like she is trying to make Buffy proud and her sacrifice worth it. I know this isn't easy on you." Der said with concern in his voice.

"I never thought I'd outlive her. I knew she'd go down fightin', but I always thought I'd go with her. I haven't been to her grave yet." Spike admitted.

"Maybe that's something you should do. I know you love her and I know that love doesn't go away after something like this. I couldn't imagine what I would do if something happened to Lisa. My world would be destroyed. You're pushing through it though for Dawn and I think she would be really proud of you for it."

"Maybe. It doesn't matter if she is or not, I wouldn't walk away from the Bit either way. I know I'm not who she would want to be with her sis. All she ever saw was the monster in me, never the man. I know I was just some weapon she had in her chest, but it was better than nothing." Spike said with a shrug.

"Is that what you really think of me?" Buffy asked slightly hurt by Spike's words.

"She was cruel to you at times. She used you and hit you even though she knew you couldn't hit her back. There's a few things I'll never be able to forgive her for."

"It's not her fault. She was operating under the lessons she received, you know that. Besides, between Angelus and Dru I'm used to cruelty. Don't matter, she's up on her fluffy cloud lookin' down on her kid sis and friends. She's at peace with her mum. She deserves it after the life she had. I just wish I could have made it a longer life for her. A life where she experienced true love and have kids. Maybe in another life she will."

"You think I'm in Heaven. Jackson is right, you would become obsessed if you knew I was trapped in this void. You can never know I'm here. I can't do that to you." Buffy said sadly as she wouldn't be able to let her friends know about her being here. She would have no choice, but to wait it out.

"Can't bring back the dead and those that do have the power would never do it. Somethings in this world you don't mess with, life and death is one of them. She will have another chance in her next life. All you can do is continue with the path you are on. Protecting her sister and keeping the Hellmouth guarded. How bad has it been at night?"

"Not too bad. Once word spreads though, there's no tellin' what could happen. You might have to move your family out of here. There's only so much one person can do and the threat of a master vampire is not as great of a threat as a Slayer."

"I know it's not. I'm worried that once the word spreads that the Hellmouth is Slayer free the crusades will start coming here. We were safe because a Slayer resided her and the crusades won't go near one. Some twisted view of respect for their soldier in arms. They could completely destroy this town and community without even a second thought."

"I know. Last I heard they were over in Europe so we might have some time to figure out a plan before they hear about the party down here. Not much else we can do."

Buffy moved over to the kitchen doorway that lead into the living room. She couldn't go much farther from Spike, but it would be enough that Jackson could hear her.

"Jackson, what are the crusades?"

" _They are an army of full demons that hunt this earth with one mission. Kill as many half-breeds as possible. They believe that half-breeds weaken the demon bloodline and give full demons a bad name. They massacre any they come across. They move all around the world eliminating half-breed demon communities and any full demon that protect them."_

"Why have I never heard of this before?"

" _They avoid Slayers out of respect. You kill demons, but also half-breeds like vampires and the not so friendly half-breeds. To them, you are a sister in arms and deserve respect for helping them with their cause. Most half-breeds believe the Slayer is a member of the crusades and to avoid her at all costs, even if they are harmless in nature. You are not just feared by those that have evil in them, but also those that have good. The consequences of having biased Watchers and the political driven Counsel whispering in your ear. Slayers stopped learning about the harmless demons centuries ago. Now most good demons will live underground for the remaining of their life, hiding from those that wish to kill it. The crusades will kill children as young as sweet Elle without hesitation. Parents live everyday in fear of what could happen to their children."_

"I didn't know about this. I didn't know about any of it. I would never condone what they are doing. Yes, I didn't know that there were such a thing as good demons, but I would never go out hunting for them and try to kill them all. I only kill those that are dangerous or are hurting someone. Otherwise I would have killed Spike after he got his chip long ago. I stopped the Initiative from capturing demons."

" _You did, but that doesn't earn much trust when there is a century behind you of betrayal and pain. Not fair on you I know, but it would have taken the word of someone respected and trusted within the community for your reputation as a Slayer to change. Its no matter now, you are no longer with the living world. All we can do is hope that the world does not descend into chaos with no Slayer within it. Unless your friends are trying to break out the other Slayer from her prison cell."_

"I doubt they are. They don't like her, even if she is the last Slayer out there. Besides, even if they do I doubt she would be much help."

" _People change. A new perspective and some helpful friends can make all the difference in the world. Especially to that of a young woman who is just looking for a family to belong to."_

"You think she would really change?" Buffy asked very interested in Jackson's opinion, though why she didn't know, but he seemed very intelligent and insightful.

" _I think anyone can change given the right setting. Look at your vampire. He used to be the Slayer of Slayers and now he is raising your little sister because of the love he feels for you both. If he can change and be more of his true self, then why not your Sister Slayer? All it takes is the right family to change a person. Spike had your family, your mother and sister to make him show his true colours. Who knows how strong Faith could be if she had that positive experience as well. That acceptance."_

"You believe Spike could change her." Buffy stated.

" _I believe they are similar and that he could help her find her way. I believe this community could help her find her way. She gets a family and the community gets another guardian. It will also keep demons, the more dangerous ones, from coming to Sunnydale. Spike will need help guarding the Hellmouth, he can't do it alone, no one can not even you. You were his partner out in the field and he was yours. You know that. He needs a new partner one that needs him just as much. He will always love you, but if he does not have a purpose to force him forward he will always mourn you and be stuck in the present. You don't care much about him, but we do."_

"You want my blessing. Why? You don't need it."

" _No I do not, but it would be nice to have."_

"If you think Faith has it in her to be good then go for it. I don't want anyone harmless or innocent to get hurt, human or otherwise. I just don't know if she can do it or if Spike is up for that responsibility with everything else he's got going on."

" _Spike can handle a great deal. And he will not be doing it alone. We look out for each other. Spike is a part of our family and now so is your sister. Ironically enough. I wish you had trusted us, trusted Spike more. We would have protected her. We could have had her hidden away where your Hell Goddess never would have found her. That fight would have turned out so much differently should you have just trusted in Spike and his survival instincts."_

"Ya I'm starting to get that. What if Faith goes bad again? Spike can't fight her with the chip."

" _Don't worry about that. We can help Spike should the worst happen. Though I do not foresee that happening."_

"Alright. Well it's not like I can say no. If you think she will be able to help and keep the city safe then okay. Spike's not my favourite person, but I'm not about to deny that he needs help at night. The Hellmouth needs a Slayer."

" _Good. Thank-you Ms. Buffy."_

"Der, Spike, a word a moment." Jackson said.

Buffy saw that Spike and Der came into the living room and Der spoke.

"Something wrong?"

"I heard you mentioning the crusades."

"Are they moving?" Mick asked with concern himself.

"Not yet. We were just discussing what to do when they eventually come down this way. It won't take long before word spreads that far." Der said.

"There is an option. There is another Slayer." Jackson said.

"She's in jail though. She went to the dark side." Spike said.

"People change, as you know. Sometimes it just takes the right people to bring out someone's trust self." Jackson said.

"You think she would be on the side of good if surrounded by the right people?" Mick asked.

"I think if we got her out of jail, gave her a place to stay, give her a family, I don't think she would betray that. I think a positive environment is what she needs to finally be who she was born to be." Jackson said.

"She is in jail though." Lisa said still stuck on that obstacle.

"I know, but we could get her out somehow. It would be good for Spike to have a partner out there with him and a Slayer would keep the crusades away from Sunnydale." Jackson said.

"And if she goes back to her bad ways? Can't exactly stop her." Spike said.

"Not with his chip. And there aren't any demons in this community that would want to go against her." Der said.

"I don't think she will and if she does we can always turn to the community and the covens to restrain her. I think she is lost and needs a place to call home. She has been in jail for a couple of years now. Enough time to think about her mistakes and re-evaluate her life. I don't think she would betray us if we got her out and gave her a home." Jackson said.

"Where would she stay?" Mick asked.

"Stay? How the bloody hell are we gettin' her out? She's in maximum federal prison not summer camp." Spike said.

"You've broken out of a prison before back in the sixties." Mick said.

"I'm sorry what?" Buffy asked shocked.

" _A story for another day."_ Jackson said.

"What if we don't have to break her out. Isn't there a way we could do it legally?" Jackson asked.

"Maybe. She's there for murder though." Der answered.

"Did she confess?" Mick asked.

"I don't know. I'd have to look into it. Getting her out legally would be best then she wouldn't have to be hidden all the time." Der said.

"You got any mates that can look into it?" Spike asked Der.

"I do ya. I'll get in contact with them and see if we can reverse the conviction. If not then we break her out."

"You mean I break her out." Spike said with a smirk.

"Well you are the bad boy in the family." Der said with his own smile.

"Remember that when I call you for bail money. I can't exactly hit my way out this time around." Spike said.

"I'll always bail you out brother." Der said back.

"If we can get her out I think it will be good for the city. It would solve a few problems." Jackson said.

"I'll work my contacts and see what I can do. Mick, can you get the blueprints to the prison?" Jackson asked.

"I'll get them and we can start getting something together should we need to break her out. Where will she stay?" Mick asked.

"She can stay here for now until we find her a more permanent place of her own within the community." Der answered.

"Is that really safe with the kids?" Buffy asked as she looked at Jackson.

" _There are spell wards up on the house that prevents any violence happening within the home. It will be fine."_

"Now that business is completed, we have dinner to finish. Business hours are over." Der said with a warm smile as he turned to go back into the kitchen to get dinner finished.

"I'll come help." Spike said with his own smile.

Buffy couldn't believe how they were all acting with each other. It was like watching a family. Buffy never expected for that to happen. She didn't ever think of how demons would act with each other. Buffy always figured they were normal demons. She never thought they would live in nice homes with kids and friends. Buffy didn't know how she felt about Dawn being around them, but she was getting less concerned about it as she saw them interacting throughout the next couple of hours. They all sat down for dinner at the table when it was time. The kids all talked about their day and how school went. If there were any problems or any need for help with homework. It was so domesticated and normal. Buffy never thought she would ever see something like this. By the time it was time for Dawn and Spike to leave Buffy felt like she had just watched a family having a nice family dinner with each other. Dawn had really hit it off with Sara and they spent most of the time there just talking about different people at school and boys. It was good to see Dawn relax and have a friend that she didn't have to hide the dark things in the night from. Buffy was feeling good when Spike dropped Dawn off at the house before he headed to the fight club.

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Tara walked into the Magic Shop and saw that everyone else in their group was there. Tara was glad, because then she could tell everyone about the new place that her, Willow and Dawn will be staying in. Tara knew that it was a serious downgrade from the current house Dawn was living in, but it was better than nothing. Tara meant what she said when they could make it work with just some cleaning and fresh paint. It would be a change to be living in that area and with Dawn, but Tara was hopeful it wouldn't be too bad. Tara thought it might be nice to be living in the downtown area where the majority of the shops were.

"Hey Sweetie. How did it go today?" Willow asked as she looked up from the book she was reading.

"Not too bad actually. It could have been better, but I think it'll be okay." Tara answered as she went and gave Willow a kiss before sitting down beside her.

"What happened today?" Anay asked.

"Well first Spike had to go to Dawnie's school to speak to her principal and teachers regarding her school work. Spike was able to smooth things over so Dawnie won't lose this semester. She just has to make up the work by the end of school year. Dawnie is thinking about maybe taking some courses this summer to try and graduate early. She also doesn't know what she wants to do just yet for a career. She's going to think about it and see."

"That's good for her school that she won't be behind. And there's nothing wrong with working ahead. She can be in College or University sooner and get her career started. Does she have any ideas?" Willow asked.

"Not really. She wants to do something that will pay well and let her travel. She was going to talk to a friend of Spike's who is a corporate lawyer about what he does and see."

"A friend of Spike's is the last person she should be talking to." Xander said.

"Spike really isn't that bad Xander. He's working hard to make sure Dawnie is taken care of. He's working on getting the gallery back up and running to help with the bills. He's stepped up when it should have been us. He's working at night and patrolling. Plus he's there for Dawnie and her school. He's not who you think he is." Tara said in Spike's defence.

"Ya we'll see how long that lasts before he gets sick of the life and moves on to some other victim he can stalk and become obsessed with." Xander said clearly not buying it.

"What about the house? How was it with the real estate agent?" Willow asked.

"Why do you need an agent?" Anya asked.

"We need to sell the house. There's too many bills and debt left on it. There's three hundred grand left on the house and the agent said she could put the house up for two hundred and twenty grand. There's some type of problem with the pipes, they are out of code and are on the out. The contractor said it would take almost eighty grand to fix them." Tara answered.

"We are getting that a lot at work. Most homes were built thirty years or more ago and their electricity and plumbing are all out of code. Its expensive, that guy isn't trying to pull anything." Xander said.

"We figured. After closing costs though, we will have a hundred grand left on the house to pay off. But the agent thinks she can have it sold by the end of the month and Spike's friend was able to find us a place within our price range. It's a two bedroom house right by downtown. It's small and in need of some cleaning and new paint, but it'll be good for the three of us. There's a fenced in yard that I told Dawnie we could get a vegetable garden started and that got her excited. The two bedrooms are the size of Dawnie's current room, but it's a start somewhere and it's roughly fifteen hundred a month depending on how much our utilities bills are."

"That's cheap for a house, even a small one. Most places that are for rent are very expensive because the landlords are trying to get as much from them before they either move or are killed." Anya said.

"When can we move into it?" Willow asked.

"Within a couple of days. I thought we could paint and clean first, because it desperately needs it. We are also going to have a garage sale at the current house to help with any expenses for moving and we can't bring most of the furniture to the new place. There is a garage so we can store some stuff in it. I thought maybe we could store Buffy's room until Dawnie was ready to move on from it and let the stuff go." Tara answered.

"I think that would be a good idea, especially what I have in mind." Willow said with a huge smile.

"What do you mean?" Tara asked confused.

"I've been doing some research and I found a way we can bring Buffy back."

"What do you man bring her back?" Tara asked.

"It's still a little bit away, but I found a way that I can bring Buffy back. I can get her out of Hell."

"You want to raise the dead? Willow, this is serious and the dark magic it would take to bring someone back to life. It's dangerous."

"I know, but she's in Hell. She died in a Hell portal. I can't just leave her there. I have to bring her back. I can't do it soon enough to try and save the house, but I can bring her back I know I can. I've been doing research and working on the spell. Anya is working on helping me get all of the ingredients for the spell. We can do this. We can get her out of Hell." Willow said with confidence.

"Are you sure though? Willow this is really dangerous and we have no idea what could happen afterwards. Anything could go wrong. Are you all really sure you want to risk it?" Tara asked the others.

"Buffy is my best friend. I won't leave her in Hell." Xander said.

"I support Xander." Anya simply said.

"We can't leave her in Hell baby. She doesn't deserve it. We have to save her. She would for any of us." Willow said.

"Ok, if you three are sure then I'll help. But what about Spike and Dawnie? When are you telling them?" Tara asked.

"We weren't going to. I don't want to get Dawnie's hopes up. It's still going to take a few months for us to get everything we need for the spell." Willow said.

"And we can't tell Spike. If something does go wrong he won't let us take the necessary steps to correct what we've done. He also hates magic he could try and screw with the spell on purpose. It has to be just us four that know." Xander added.

"You want me to lie to Spike and Dawnie? Is that really the best thing to do?" Tara asked not too sure how she felt about lying to Spike and Dawn. She would be practically living with them and helping with Dawn's care. It felt wrong to keep something like this a secret from them.

"We can't risk them getting involved or jeopardizing it. Spike hates magic he would never approve of this and he could have this delusion that Buffy is in Heaven. I can't leave my best friend in Hell, I won't. They can't know it's for the best." Willow said.

"Ok. I'm not sure about it, but if that is what you all want to do then okay. What is the first step?"

"I need to get all of the ingredients and Willow needs to ensure that the spell will work." Anya said.

"Until then we go as if nothing has changed." Xander said.

"Starting with moving." Willow said.

"Well we could use some help at the house with it. We need to paint the current house and get the lawn cleaned up. Then the new house needs a serious cleaning and fresh paint. Any chance you could come by and help with mowing the lawn Xander?" Tara asked.

"Sure, you know I'll help out. And if there is anything in the new house you need me to check out or fix all you have to do is ask."

"That would be great. I'm not real sure what is going on with the new house. It did pass inspection I know that. There's going to be a lot of work until we are in just one house." Tara said.

"We can get them ready for us. We can start this weekend if you want." Willow said.

"I can't Saturday. I promised Spike I would help him at a show for the gallery. But I can all week and Sunday." Tara said.

"We can figure it out. Do we need to get going for Dawnie?" Willow asked.

"Not yet, we have a couple of hours before Spike should return with her. He was going to get dinner for her as well."

"Good so we have a couple hours to do more research and get this plan in motion." Willow said with a smile.

"What do you need?" Tara asked more than ready to help her friends.

Willow and Tara spent the next two hours going through magic books while Xander helped Anya on the computer trying to find everything they needed. It would take a few months to get all of the ingredients especially the more rare pieces, but once they had everything they were going to bring Buffy back from the dead. They were not going to let her be trapped in Hell no matter what anyone said. They were not going to stop until she was free once again.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **Day 19**

Xander pulled his car up to the new house that Willow, Tara and Dawn would be living in come this weekend. Spike had paid for the first month's rent and a deposit just yesterday so they were going to get it cleaned up before moving in. The last four days had been pretty crazy for Spike. He was working every night to make up some money to go towards the bills and the move. He was also working on getting a show ready for this Saturday. Tonight they were all going to be working on the new house to get it painted and ready for them to move in on Sunday. They then could work on getting the old house ready for sale. This would also be the first time Xander, Anya and Willow were seeing the new house. Tara didn't know how well it would go over, but she was hoping it wouldn't be too bad. They had picked up the paint for the house. They got white for the kitchen cabinets and a soft pale yellow for the rest of the house. Dawn had picked up a nice shade of purple to do her room. Spike was going to be picking her up from school in a couple of hours and then bringing her here. Xander was going to check out the house and see about any little repairs as the landlord held no interest in doing anything to the place unless it was legally binding.

"Holy jungle Batman." Xander commented as he pulled up to the house.

"It's not that bad. It just needs to be mowed and the weeds to be pulled. It looks decent otherwise." Tara said still trying to be positive.

It wouldn't be the house she would pick, but she knew better than to complain about things she couldn't change. This was going to be their house and she was determined to make it into a home. Realistically, Dawn was fifteen and within three years she would be going off to University somewhere. They only had to make it work for a little while.

"Well you said it was in rough shape. Are you sure it's even safe to live in?" Willow asked.

"The landlord cleared it and so did Spike's friend. They said it past inspection." Tara answered.

"Ya because I'm sure Spike's friend is reliable and trustworthy. I'll check it out and make sure you aren't going to die in it." Xander said not pleased at all as he got out of the car.

"I know it's not fancy, but it's the best that we can do. There's a lot of debt that needs to be paid off still. Spike's trying his best and really with a good cleaning and some fresh paint it won't be that bad." Tara said as the rest of them got out of the car.

"Still, it's a serious step down from the last house." Willow said not really happy to be walking in the house, much less living there.

"We can't afford the four grand it would cost to keep the house. This is more practical and Dawnie will be off to University within three years. It's a stepping stone. We can make it work." Tara unlocked the door and they walked in.

"Well, I've seen worse." Anya said as she took it all in.

"Ya in the drug end of town." Xander commented.

"This place is filthy." Willow complained.

"I said it was. That's why we brought all the cleaning supplies. I know it's nothing fancy or special, but this is where Dawnie will be living. Can you at least try and help me make this into a home for her please." Tara knew it was shocking, but they had no other options. She didn't want to hear about how bad the place was all night and she definitely didn't want Spike and Dawn to hear it.

"You could get a cute little table for that corner. Like a bistro table." Anya said trying to help, she really didn't see the problem with it. She had seen a hell of a lot worse.

"That's what I was thinking. And there is a small island in the kitchen we could use to get food ready."

"You have nice big windows. You'll have to cover them during the day when Spike is here, but once clean you'll get a lot of light through them. What's the rest look like?" Anya said as she made her way towards the stairs.

Tara gave a smile to Anya and was glad that someone seemed to be on her side with this.

"I'll go get my stuff from the car and start looking at what I can fix." Xander said giving in and accepting this was going to be the house that his friends would be living in. He wasn't happy about it, but he would make sure it was fixed as best as he could.

"I'll come and get the cleaning supplies." Willow added following Xander out.

Once they were at the trunk of the car Willow spoke.

"What do you think?"

"I think it needs a lot of love and car and even then it might not be all that great."

"I can't believe I'm going to have to live here in it. The dorm is much better than this."

"Ya, but Tara seems to be determined to live with Dawn and this is their only choice. All we can do is help her make it look better."

"A house that Spike is paying for. It's because of Spike that Buffy died. All he had to do was get up and get Dawn, but he failed and Buffy had to die to save Dawn. He is the last person that should be around."

"He won't be around for long. If he wants to pay the bills then let him. He'll be too busy to be around. It's only temporary."

"I know, but still. I don't like that they sold the house. Tara knows we are trying to bring Buffy back. She should have said no and just held off until we got Buffy back."

"Ya, but she couldn't tell Spike that. Besides, she said it would be close to four grand a month, Buffy couldn't afford that. At least here Buffy could afford it with working. Don't think of this as your place, but the home Buffy will come back to. We also don't even know if it is possible to bring Buffy back."

"It's possible. I just need to figure out the spell and ingredients. It's going to take a couple of months, but we should have everything we need for it." Willow said confidently that she could bring her dead friend back from the dead.

"Then let's make this a place that Buffy could be happy to live in." Xander grabbed his tool box and they both headed inside.

They got to work on getting the place cleaned and ready to paint while they waited for when Spike would bring Dawn over.

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Buffy sat there at the end of the bed opposite of Spike. Spike was sitting up in bed looking at some old photos. Buffy had leaned over to look at them when Spike first took them out and saw that they were photos of who she assumed was his mother and him when he was younger. The pictures were so old and cracked Buffy was surprised you could even make anything out of the image. Buffy could tell that Spike seemed to be depressed today, but she had no idea why. She had seen Spike sad after Drusilla left him, but she had never seen him down right depressed. So depressed he didn't even get out of bed this morning. He was supposed to be picking up Dawn within the next few hours and taking her over to the new house to get it painted and ready for them to move in on Sunday. At this rate, Spike was never getting out of bed. All he had managed to do today was getting dressed and grabbing the old photobox from an old trunk he had.

They were both brought out of their thoughts with the sound of the trap door being opened. Spike snapped his head up as he didn't hear anyone opening his front door. Buffy didn't know who this new guy was, but Spike seemed to know him. He was handsome, with medium length black hair that went down to the back of his neck, but it was trimmed with layers that fit around the shape of his face. He had beautiful hazel green eyes and a gorgeous face. Buffy could tell he was young, maybe in his late twenties. He was fit as well, but Buffy couldn't tell if he was a vampire or another demon. She was guessing he wasn't human based on how quiet he was upstairs, and that he knew Spike.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" Spike asked with a warmth to his voice.

"Der called to tell me what happened." Damon answered as he sat down on the bed closer to Spike, but facing him.

"He shouldn't have done that. I'm fine."

"You're fine? Now that is a load of bullshit and you know it. The woman you love is dead. You have been put through a great deal in the past couple of years since I first met you. Fine is the last thing that you are."

"I'll bounce back, always do." Spike said with a shrug.

"I'm over fourteen hundred years old William, I am far too old for that shit and you know I don't tolerate it. I have no interest in some smoke screen or a mask."

"Fourteen hundred. Holy crap dude you are old." Buffy said shocked that he was so old. She had no idea if he was a demon or vampire, but she had never met any that old before outside of the Master. And he looked nowhere near how hot this guy looked.

Spike let out a small sigh before he spoke. "It feels like someone reached into my chest and ripped out my heart. I feel like half of me is missin' and I'm never gettin' it back. It didn't feel like this when Dru left me and I loved her for a century. Makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense. Drusilla was your first love, a love you should have given up a long time ago, but you stayed because you needed to belong to someone. Buffy, she was your true love, your soulmate. She didn't get to see you for who you truly are, she didn't get that chance to fall in love with you yet. It's natural for you to feel like you are missing part of yourself because you are. It's also natural for it to be making you think about other things that you normally don't allow yourself to think about." Damon said with a nod down to the photos on the bed.

"The Niblet asked about my parents the other day." Spike said with pain lacing his voice.

"What did you tell her?" Damon already knew about Dawn as he had kept in contact with Der weekly for updates on Spike since he left two years ago.

"Nuthin'. Got her to get to bed instead. Not somethin' I'm proud of."

"You're mother was sick William. You thought it would make her better. You had no idea it would turn her into what it did. The demon didn't change who you were, you had no way of knowing it would change your mother. All you knew was that your mother was sick, dying, and you could make her healthy again." Damon said gently.

"Doesn't changed that I killed her and turned her into a monster." Spike said with self-hatred overflowing from his voice.

"Oh my god. You turned your own mother?" Buffy said slightly disgusted by it. She figured he had killed her, Angel had said that was the first thing any vampire did, but she had no idea he would turn her.

"No, the demon did that. You had no idea it would react like that to her. And when you saw what you had done to her, you staked her and freed her from that hell. You saved her soul. That was the first and only time you sired anyone. She wasn't you and it's not your fault."

"She wasn't me, but then why wasn't she? Why am I the only one like this? There's no other vamp out there like me, not in history that I can find, so why am I like this? It never mattered to me before, not really. But after everything that happened all I can think about it is that. It shouldn't bother me but it does."

"You've lost a great deal recently William. You are going through something and those questions that didn't really matter before matter now. You are feeling lost and that is perfectly normal. I know you are close to being a hundred and thirty years old, but you are young in our world. You are starting to go through that phase where you want to discover who you truly are and how you fit into this world. Every vampire goes through it should they live long enough. I have plenty of times and it was not easy. But I stayed close to family and they were able to help me through it. You have a family, they are not your vampire blood family, but they are your family. The people that love and accept you for who you are. They will always be there to help guide you through the difficult times. Just like I will be. You are the reason why I am back and if those answers truly matter to you then I will find them for you."

"How though? I've done the research it always goes back to what I was like as a human and my parents. I don't even know who my father was. My Mum never spoke about him, I don't even know his name and it's not written down anywhere."

"It might not be because of who your parents were. There was one other vampire in my time to be similar to you. His name was Draven and he was eight hundred years old when he died, that was three centuries ago. He much like yourself was able to feel completely, he was almost exactly how he was as a human. He went wild for a good century, but he cooled down fast and he didn't take much thrill in torture. He was very special to me." Damon said warmly.

"You sired him." Spike easily stated.

"I did. I was three hundred at the time and had long given up siring family. Most were often let downs or too much of a hassle and were killed. There was something special about him though that I couldn't let go. He was actually the one to help me calm down and start living differently. We spent eight hundred years together, he was very much my Childe and I his Sire. It was a brotherhood between us. I miss him everyday. You often remind me of him."

"How did he die?"

"A broken heart actually. His soulmate died. They had performed the mating ceremony a decade prior to it. When she died he didn't last much longer after that, four months. He died slowly for four months, I couldn't save him no matter what I did." Damon said with a deep regret.

"Sorry mate."

"It's an ache that I've had to carry around, but living also allows me to help people like you and to continue on with guarding my family, old and young. The curse of a vampire."

"Livin' forever was so appealin' in the beginnin'. Bein' able to go through the centuries and seein' all the changes. Still is appealing, but doing it alone just seems like another form of Hell."

"Ah, but you're not alone. You will always have family to be there with you and get your through it. You will get through this William, I am not about to lose you too."

"Guess it's just gonna take time."

"It does, but it will get easier, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. Remember, you are not alone. You have a family that cares about you and will always be there for you."

"Appreciate it mate. How long are you in town for this time?"

"I'm not leaving any time soon. I'll be staying at my place. I need to clean it up, two years' worth of dust will be everywhere."

"Sounds more fun than I'll be doin'."

"Which is hopefully not spending the night depressed in bed."

"Naw, I need to pick up the Niblet and take her over to the new house. Get to clean it and paint it with Buffy's mates."

"That's right, Der was telling me that you needed to put the old house up for sale. How is Dawn handling it?"

"A lot better than I thought she would. She's almost excited about having a new place and a fresh start. She's bein' good about it."

"Young people always bounce back fairly quickly. She's probably relieved to be getting away from all of the bad memories in the house. Even good ones can be painful for someone when they have lost two loved ones so close together. And I know the house isn't much, but it will be made into a home once she has her things in it. A good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint can do wonders. It's all about having the right mindset William. I am sure in no time it will feel like home to her."

"Hope so. Temporary anyways. She wants to leave town for University. She's even thinkin' of takin' extra courses during the summer to graduate early. Three years at most and she'll be gone."

"And you with her." Damon said with a warm knowing smile.

"Most likely. We manage to get the naughty slayer out of her cage I can leave without feeling bad her friends are gonna get eaten."

"Der told me about that. It's not impossible, it's just going to take a bit of time to figure the logistics out. Hopefully we can do it legally. Der is very good at what he does and he has the connections to potentially do this. It all depends on what her case file says."

"Did he get his hands on it yet?"

"Just this morning. It'll take him a few days to go through it and form a plan. He has to pick up Sarah at the school though so you'll probably see him there."

Spike just gave a nod and Damon patted Spike's leg as he stood up and spoke. "I should get going. It's getting shady outside, looks like it'll rain tonight. You should be fine to head to the school above ground."

"Ta for the heads up."

"Hey wait a minute. It's daylight, how the hell did you get here?" Buffy asked as she just clued in to what time it was. She made a mental note to ask Jackson about it the next time she saw him.

"You can always speak to me whenever William. I'll always be here for you."

"Appreciate it mate. It's just a bad day." Spike said with a small shrug.

"All the more reason for you to get your ass in the shower and go see your little sister. You need family around you, not these walls." Damon said as he moved his hand around to indicate the dirt walls.

"I know, I know. I'll put it away and get ready to go. Did Der tell you about the art show I'm puttin' on this Saturday?"

"He did. He's been telling everyone, from what I have heard it is looking to be a packed house. I'll be there as well. Let me know if you need any help getting it ready."

"Ta, but I think we'll be ok. I got the Bit and Glinda helping with it. The Bit has been studying up on the art pieces just in case someone asks her about it. She's been workin' hard at it." Spike said with a slight proud tone to his voice.

"She wants a better life outside of school. It's a good drive for a young woman to have. I'm sure Der will teach her all about the finer things in life that she can use later on."

"Probably. He's real good with kids. With some luck Saturday will be a smashin' hit and we can start generating some revenue with the gallery."

"I've put the word out that you are looking to take on some work with my contacts. We'll get you something to help with the bills until the gallery is self-sufficient. I'd offer to help you out, but I know you won't take it." Damon said with a warm smile.

"Der already tried. I'll make it work."

"I'm sure you will, but know that the offer is open standing. I'll get out of your hair though so you can get ready. I'll see you Saturday if I don't see you before then."

"See ya mate."

Damon made his way out of the crypt just as quietly as he came in. Spike let out a sigh before he picked up the photos and took one last look at them before he placed them into the photobox and got up to put them away. Spike them made his way into his bathroom to get showered and ready to pick up Dawn.

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Spike pulled up to Dawn's school and got out of his car and leaned against the hood of his car. He saw Der's car across the street and he wasn't surprised when he saw Der getting out of his car and making his way towards him. Der gave him a warm smile as he spoke.

"Hey Spike, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. Saw Damon."

"Ya he arrived late last night. Stayed at mine so he wouldn't have to deal with cleaning his house yet. How was he?"

"Good. On his way home to clean. Don't know why he doesn't hire someone to do it. He is loaded."

"I don't think he likes strangers in his house. What are you doing Friday night?"

"Nuthin' yet. Why?"

"A bar owner that I know just had his singer cancel on him. The band can play, but they need a singer. I dropped your name."

"Ooh you can sing? What do you sing Spikey?" Buffy said with a huge smile on her face.

"Don't know why you would do that. Not like I'll know their songs."

"No, but if you give me the sheet music to your songs they can learn it quick enough for Friday. They got three days."

"Oh your sheet music eh? So you write and sing. Oh this is too good and I can't even properly make fun of you for it." Buffy said as she laughed.

"I don't typically sing in front of crowds you know that."

"I know, but it's a flat eight hundred bucks in your pocket for three hours of work."

"Eight hundred? Where the hell is this bar?"

"Next town over, the Devil's House. Very popular human bar. He makes over fifty grand in a weekend between the door cover and bar sales. Singer gets eight hundred at the rate the previous singer brings in. He's more popular than the last one, but if you could bring in more customers with your talent then the price would go up. If he likes you more though, he'll give you three nights a week, Thursday thru Saturday nine till midnight."

"Twenty-four hundred a week." Spike said liking the sound of that.

"Ninety-six hundred a month. When he told me he needed a singer and real quick I told him I had the perfect guy for it. This is your chance to make some good money and you'll only be working nine hours a week."

"Tell em I'll do it. I'll get the music to you tonight and then you can give it to him. Not sure how good I'll be or if anyone will like it, but I'll give it a go."

"You'll do great. And if you get the job for the new lead singer you could think about playing with that band at other locations. That band stays together, but the lead singer always changes where they play. I've heard they are looking to have a more permanent singer so they could play more shows all over the place without having to worry about having a singer. This could be really good for you."

"We'll see how Friday goes first before any plannin'. How's the dark slayer's file comin' along?"

"Not as well as I would have liked. She surrendered herself in L.A for her past actions, but she never did confess to anything nor did she deny it. I might be able to get around it stating some kind of mental defect she had at the time. It's going to take some work to figure out. For now my connections are keeping an eye on the Crusades and will give us the heads up if they move this way. How is the gallery coming along? Do you need any help getting it ready for Saturday?"

"Naw I'll be fine. Got the Bit studying up on all of the pieces we're sellin'. She's gettin' into it. Glinda is being good about everything and taking it all in stride. She's goin' through a big change herself with all of this."

"It takes a village to raise a child. Dawn needs all the family she can get to get her through this. If you ever need any help with her you know you can always call me."

"I know. I might take you up on it."

"The girls got along real well the other night. We could always do a sleepover for them. Give you and Tara a night off."

"Ya that might be nice. I'll mention it to the Bit."

"Here comes our beautiful girls now. I'll see you later tonight."

"See ya mate."

Der walked off and gave the girls a wave as he went over to his daughter. Dawn came over to Spike with a smile on her face.

"Hey Bit. How was school?"

"Not bad. I hung out with Sarah mostly. She's pretty cool. And it's kinda nice to not have to pretend like there aren't demons and vampires in the world."

"Can see the appeal ya. Der was just talkin' about you girls doin' a sleepover some time." Spike said as they got into the car.

"Oh awesome. Sounds like fun."

"Having a sleepover at the house of a demon, ya sure why not." Buffy commented in the back. She had to admit Der and his family did seem pretty nice and you couldn't tell by looking at them that they were half-demons. Besides, it wasn't like she could say no after all.

"Any homework?" Spike asked as he headed for the new house.

"No thankfully. How much work do you think the others got done at the house?"

"Don't know. Won't be able to get it all done tonight. It'll be ready by Sunday though."

"I can't wait to see what it will look like once it's all done. Me and Tara already started looking into how to make a small vegetable garden out back. We're going to try and grow some carrots and tomatoes." Dawn said sounding excited over something so simple.

"Glinda should be able to show you how to do it. Earth witches are good at that sort of thing. You all set for Saturday?"

"Almost. I've got most of the pieces memorized, I'm just going to practice a bunch to make sure I don't mess up. Do we have anything to set up?"

"We'll have to go a bit early to get the drinks and o'd'oeuvres ready. It starts at nine, so we should be there for seven and make sure it's all clean and ready."

"Ok, I already have my outfit picked out. A nice pair of black jeans with a black blazer that I have from funerals. Very professional and serious."

"A tip from Der is that?" Spike said with a smirk.

"Yup. He said if you want to be taken seriously you need to look the part."

"He's a smart man. You listen to him and he'll guide you into the life you could only dream of Bit."

"I will admit he does seem to know what he's talking about. I mean hello his house." Buffy said still amazed that a place like that even existed in Sunnydale.

"I was doing more research into corporate law and it seems pretty cool and it's something I could take to help people in other countries. And my guidance counselor today told me that I could take up to four courses during the summer if I want. She mapped it out, if I take four in the summer and then six courses in each semester I could graduate at the end of next year. And the last semester I could do it where it's like an internship to get my six credits. I could be done in a year, how awesome would that be?" Dawn said sounding really excited.

"That's great Bit. Are you sure that is something you want to do?"

"Definitely. The College here has a pre-law degree program that I can take and then once I graduate I could go to an actual law school anywhere. So I'll be here until I'm nineteen and then I can go off to law school, which will take me another three years. So I could be done all of my schooling by twenty-two."

"Assumin' you stick with the schedule you could be off in the world before you know it. You do know where you go, I go right?"

"Oh hell ya. I can't leave my guardian behind." Dawn said with a huge warm smile.

"Gonna be stuck with me a long time Bit."

"I better be. Someone has to make sure my kids and my grandchildren, and my great grandchildren are all safe. You better not be planning on dying any time soon."

"Only if you plan on doing somethin' stupid that would get me good and dusted."

"I've never thought about that before. You would always be around to protect Dawnie and any of her children and her children's children. You could be the family protector. That should bother me, but I'm kinda liking the idea of you being there protecting her and everyone that comes after. I like that." Buffy said warmly with a sincere smile gracing her lips.

"I promise I won't."

"Then I promise I won't." Spike replied back as they pulled up to the new house.

Dawn gave a smile as she opened the door. They all got out and made their way into the house. The outside looked the same, but it was inside that mattered the most to them. They walked in and saw that Xander was fixing some of the kitchen cupboards while the girls were cleaning the walls to get them ready to be painted.

"Well it smells better in here." Dawn said.

"It's pretty dirty, but it has great bones. There is even enough space by your window in your room for a small seat." Anya said truly enthused about all of this.

"Really?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, Xander said he could make one." Anya said back.

"That would be awesome." Dawn said as she went and removed her coat to help out.

"Xander also fixed the few steps that were shaky and he's just getting the cupboards on properly. It's going to take until Sunday to get this place clean and painted, but it's coming along." Tara said.

"It already looks better." Spike said as he removed his own coat and picked up a cloth to help clean up.

"It does look better, but I'm still not seeing it yet. I have no clue how Anya can be excited about any of this. But I guess she has lived in some nasty places over the years." Buffy said.

"Tara was telling me about the art show you have on Saturday. Do you need anyone to help take money from people?" Anya asked.

Spike gave a chuckle. "We're good I think. Maybe next time."

"What time Saturday should we be there?" Tara asked.

"Around seven to get everythin' ready for nine. I also got work on Friday now at nine. You don't have a late class right?"

"No I'm good to be home. Will you be out late?" Tara asked.

"Job goes till midnight in the next town over, then I'll have to patrol."

"So don't wait up, got it." Tara said with a warm smile.

"What's the job?" Dawn asked.

"Just doin' some security work at a bar for a friend of a friend." Spike said dismissively.

"Liar. Them finding out you are going to be singing I guess would ruin your whole Big Bad persona eh? Man it sucks that I can't tell anyone, or at least not anyone that would make fun of you for it." Buffy said.

They all spent the rest of the evening working on the house getting it ready to be painted. Tomorrow Spike was planning on coming by during the day to work on the painting and then Dawn was going to be painting her room tomorrow. That would give it two days to clear the smell out before they would move in. Once they were all moved in here they could then start to focus on getting the old house ready to be sold and the furniture sold. It was going to be a long couple of weeks until they got the house finished, but once that was done they could all relax into a routine. Once it was late enough Spike gave Dawn a ride back to the house before he made his way back to his crypt and got the sheet music together. He then dropped it off at Der's before he did a patrol. It was a long night before he collapsed into bed.

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 **Day 21**

It was Friday night and Spike was at the new house with Tara and Dawn. They had just finished up painting the house and Buffy had to admit it looked completely different. The white paint made it brighter in the kitchen and the soft pale yellow in the rest of the house made it feel slightly bigger, fresher. For the first time it looked like it could actually be a home for someone. They had been working hard on it for the past two days and it showed. It was just before eight when they started to make their way out of the house. Spike needed to get the girls back home so he could start making his way towards the bar for nine. Buffy had to admit how well Spike was taking care of Dawn and handling things. She wasn't sure at first, but he seemed to be sticking with it and looking out for Dawn. It was a different side to Spike, one she had tried not to see or think had always known deep down that there was something different about Spike. The way he cared for Drusilla was proof that there was something more underneath the vampire exterior. Buffy just never allowed her mind to think about it. With Glory though, she had to start to rely on Spike to protect her mother and sister from the Hell God herself. Then when Spike was tortured just to protect Dawn, that nagging gut feeling deep down got harder and harder to ignore. For a split second Buffy saw the real Spike. The Spike without any of the walls or persona that he carried. He was just Spike, he was real and Buffy couldn't help but press her lips against his. It was that single moment that could have changed everything. If Buffy had held onto that version of Spike instead of letting her mind go back to seeing him as nothing more than a vampire, the night on the tower could have gone so much differently.

Buffy turned in the passenger seat and looked at Spike as he drove down the side highway. He was wearing just his normal clothes and Buffy could tell that he was nervous about this. She could tell he was unsure if this was a good idea or not, but he couldn't pass up the chance to make eight hundred dollars.

"Who are you Spike? Is this what I'm supposed to learn? I'm stuck to you and that can't be a coincidence. I must need to learn something from you before I can go up to Heaven. Maybe it's seeing who you truly are and knowing that Dawnie and my friends are ok. But who are you Spike? You are so much more than just some vampire. I don't get it."

Buffy didn't know what to think or what she was feeling anymore. All she did know was that Spike was turning out to be someone completely different than what she had originally thought he was. It was quarter to nine when Spike pulled up to the bar. It was a large bar that could easily fit three hundred people in it. Based on the line outside it was a very popular location. The only bar Buffy had been to was the Brozen and she knew that wouldn't be a great comparison, but it was the only bar in town for a human to go to. Buffy couldn't tell what type of bar this one was from the outside, but it looked pretty hip. The crowd was all in their twenties and early thirties. Spike made his way over to the bouncer, Buffy took note of all the cat calls Spike got from the girls in line. They were clearly very happy to see him.

"Hey mate. Name's Spike, I'm supposed to be singin' with the band tonight." Spike said to the bouncer.

"Boss has been waiting on you. You're supposed to be here half hour early for sound checks."

"No one told me that. I best get in there then ya?"

"Griff will be backstage. He's the boss." The bouncer said as he opened the door for Spike.

Spike gave a nod and made his way inside. The bar was very high end and looked nothing like Buffy had ever seen before. It could have easily fit in with the L.A bars. There was a second floor that overlooked the whole place. There were booths all along the wall with black leather. The waitresses were all wearing tight black cocktail dresses and walking around with drinks, some carrying shot trays. There were lights for dancing on the ceiling that was directed towards the dancefloor by the stage.

"Nice place. Hey this is a perk of being dead. I wouldn't have been allowed in here otherwise. Now if I could just figure out how to get Spike into a male strip club."

Spike walked around to the back of the stage and saw that the band was all there, along with a man in a very high end suit who Buffy assumed was Griff.

"Ya he's so pissed right now." Buffy said as she took in Griff's face.

"You better be Spike." Griff demanded.

"Sorry mate. No one told me I needed to be here that early. It won't happen again." Spike kept some remorse in his voice that Buffy was shocked he could do. But this could turn out to be a very well paid job. He couldn't afford to blow it.

"The only reason I am even letting you on that stage is because I don't have anyone else. You want a shot at coming back you better be as good as Der says you are."

"Only one way to find out."

"Get up there and do a quick sound check. Now." Griff demanded before he turned to head out.

"Hey I'm Matt and don't sweat it. He gets like that every time he has a new singer. He goes through them pretty quick. Says he's just looking for that sound. I hope you can sing something other than country."

"Spike. Can't stand that shit. It's rock."

"Then you might have a chance. I'm Doug and this is Kevin. We'll do a quick sound check and then get started."

They all made their way to the stage and Buffy watched as they did a sound check. It was just a few minutes after nine when they were ready to go and the place was almost packed already. Buffy moved down off the stage and went to stand in the front with the crowd. She knew she could have stayed on the stage, but she wanted to get the full experience.

Spike stepped up to the mic and Buffy could tell by the slight change in his posture that he was nervous and uncomfortable being up on stage. He probably would have been fine if he had been able to have a few shots, but he didn't get that chance tonight. Buffy couldn't help but smile at Spike's obvious discomfort.

"Ah hey. I'm Spike and this is the band. And ya." Spike stuttered through. He had no idea what he was supposed to say or what the band's name even was. He was thankfully saved by the drummer counting them in.

Buffy stood there and listened to the music. It was rock, but it wasn't hard rock, which was nice. It kinda reminded her of Oz and his band's type of music. You could sit and listen to it, but also move around and dance to it. When Spike opened his mouth for the first note Buffy's teasing smirk slowly faded at each note that Spike sang. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and it was clear the audience couldn't believe it either. It took all of ten words and the audience was moving around loving it. Spike could sing. Buffy couldn't take her eyes off from him. Gone was the discomfort and lack of confidence and in front of her stood a man with talent. Buffy's smirk slowly turned into a genuine smile.

"Who the hell are you Spike? Who did I refuse to let you be?"

Buffy had no idea what to think about any of this. She didn't expect this she knew that much. She fully expected to be able to mock Spike for the rest of her time stuck with him. She didn't expect to be standing here completely dumbfounded by this stranger on stage. She felt like this was one more piece into who the true Spike was, dare she say who William was. She was starting to see Spike in a new light and Buffy found herself actually liking what she was seeing. This was a man that she could be friends with. This was a man that she could trust with her secrets and her family. This was a man that you could spend all night just talking without it getting boring. None of those things she ever associated with Spike, but here they all were. For the first time Buffy found herself feeling two things. Regret for never allowing Spike the chance to prove he could be something more than just a vampire. And joy for being stuck with Spike and being able to see this. As annoying and as hard as it will be to be stuck with Spike until the Universe fixes itself or she learns whatever it was that she needs to. It also had the chance to be a blessing. To be able to see the things she missed because she was blinded by one belief or another. Here she had fresh eyes and a clear mind to soak it all in and decide for herself what was right and what was wrong. Buffy found herself liking that fact more as each hour passed.

Buffy slowly started to get over her shock and was soon dancing along with the others to Spike's music. She found that she actually really enjoyed his songs and his voice sounded amazing on it. She watched as Spike grew more and more confident with each number and soon he was having his own fun up on stage. He had a good mix of fast and slow songs to give everyone the break to grab a drink at the bar or to slow dance with those they wanted. Spike was able to really get the crowd going and getting them to head to the bar for drinks or shots. Buffy caught glimpses of Griff and the man had a smile on his face. Buffy was hoping that meant that Spike would be able to come back and make some serious cash, cash he desperately needed for Dawnie and the house. The three hours flew by quick and with one final set they said their goodnights, but the crowd wasn't hearing it. They chanted encore over and over again. Buffy could tell that the band wasn't prepared for an encore nor were they expecting it. Buffy was shocked once again when Spike easily gave them a nod before he picked up a guitar and went over to the mic. Buffy had no idea why she was so shocked in that moment. It would only make sense that Spike could play an instrument as he wrote the sheet music, but it never crossed her mind.

As Spike started to strum the guitar Buffy's eyes were glued to him. She felt like she couldn't look away or she would miss something amazing. He started to sing his own cover version of Every Breath You Take and everyone was giving him their full attention. Buffy felt like if she had the ability to breathe Spike would have taken her breath away. It was beautiful, that was the only way Buffy could think to describe it. It should have been slightly creepy as it was coming from a vampire, but it was just beautiful. Once the last cord was played the room was silent for a moment before it erupted into chaos. Everyone was screaming and applauding Spike. Buffy could see the slight discomfort again at getting so much attention, but Spike just gave a slightly shy smile and raised his hand and bid them a goodnight. He made his way off the stage and Buffy followed after him. The rest of the band was there all smiling like idiots.

"Man that was awesome." Kevin said as he went gave Spike's back a hard pat.

"Shit, you have to play with us at other spots man. Do you have your own band?" Doug asked.

"Naw, first time I've done anythin' like this."

"You need to stick with us then. We could play all over the State and then branch out further. Griff is gonna all but beg you to stay. He was creaming in his pants over there at the drink sales. It wouldn't surprise me if he started to charge at the door for you." Kevin said.

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" Matt asked.

"Was told it was only for tonight. Got an art show I'm runnin' tomorrow night."

"Oh cool. Griff will probably beg you to ditch it. Think about joining up with us for more gigs. Give us a shout if you are in." Doug said as he handed Spike his business card. Spike took it with a nod.

"I run an art gallery that belonged to a friend of mine before she past. Can't guarantee what my schedule will be, but it's something that is interestin' to me. I'll give ya a ring on Monday and sort somethin' out."

"Awesome. We'll figure it out Monday and get some spots lined up. Good luck at the show." Matt said and the guys all had huge smiles on their faces.

"Ta mates."

Spike made his way over to Griff so he could get his money and head out. Spike was happy and pumped for what just happened, but he also had to get back to Sunnydale and do a patrol before he would need to be awake tomorrow to get the gallery ready for the show. He couldn't celebrate right now no matter how appealing it was to him. Griff nodded his head at Spike towards the back room by the bar. Spike followed and once the door was closed Griff spoke.

"I want you here three nights a week. Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the foreseeable future. Can you be here tomorrow?"

"I can't do tomorrow I'm runnin' an art gallery. But I can be here next week and I can make sure I schedule around the shows here." Spike said politely, because this could truly be the difference of Dawn being ok and her starving.

"When's the gallery?"

"Starts at nine and goes till eleven."

It was clear that Griff wasn't happy about it, but he also wasn't going to shoot himself in the foot either. "Fine, next week you start. Every show you are thirty minutes early for setup and sound check. You do not drink before or during a show. After, you have a three beer on the house tab should you choose it. There is a contract you will need to sign I'll fax it to Der and he can hand it over to you, after he looks it over I'm sure. It's standard and will state that you will receive eight hundred dollars after each show. That if you are a no show you will lose your position here and will owe me money lost. I have had nothing but bad experiences with singers you only get one chance with me. Do you understand?"

"Got it. Not gonna let ya down. Too much ridin' on it." Spike said honestly.

"See you Thursday, eight-thirty." Griff said as he handed Spike his pay in cash.

"Eight-thirty, I swear." Spike took the money and placed it into his pocket before he made his way out of the back room and then the bar.

It took a bit of work to get out of the bar as everyone was wanting to speak to him and offers to buy him a beer. Spike knew that this was also part of it. He couldn't be a dick because then they might not come back. He needed them to all come back and tell their friends so more would come and he could up the pay he was getting. It was almost one by the time Spike managed to get inside his car. Once sitting down Spike let out a sigh of relief to be alone.

"Damn, you almost need your own security detail just to get you out. This is good though Spike. You made eight hundred bucks tonight. Next week you'll be making twenty-four hundred. You'll be able to cover all of the bills with just one week's pay. The debt is still large and it won't get much better, but you'll be able to pay it down at least."

Spike not being able to hear Buffy just turned his car on and started to make the drive back to town. He still had a patrol he needed to do before he would be able to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be yet another long day.

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Willow found herself alone in the dorm. Tara had to spend the night at Buffy's house to be with Dawn while Spike was at some job. To say that Willow was unhappy would be an understatement. She had seen the house since it was finished and it did look better, but it was nowhere near where she wanted to be living. She would have been fine to move into Buffy's house and not the small old house she was supposed to be moving into. Willow was also not happy about how close Spike was getting to not only Dawn, but Tara as well. Willow didn't like that Spike seemed to be poisoning Tara's mind and having her think that he was good all of a sudden. Willow knew better. She knew that Spike was only doing this until he could get whatever he wanted from them. He had a scheme he always did. She wasn't going to let Dawn or Tara fall victim to Spike like Buffy did. Willow knew that without a soul a vampire couldn't feel love. She refused to let Spike's obsession with Buffy turn towards Dawn or worse, Tara. She had to get rid of him and then when Buffy did come back she wouldn't have to worry about Spike on top of it. The problem was she couldn't magic him gone and she couldn't be the one to run him out of town herself. She had to keep it quiet and innocent in it so Tara wouldn't be angry with her. The problem was Willow didn't know how to run a vampire out of town, especially someone like Spike. Spike was annoyingly stubborn, if he didn't want to do something he wouldn't.

Willow picked up her phone and called the one person she could think of that would be able to give her some pointers on how to deal with Spike. Angel. After three rings there was an answer.

"Angel Investigations."

"Hi Wesley. It's Willow. I need to speak to Angel about something. Is he there?"

"Yes he is. One moment Willow."

Willow could hear some shuffling in the background before finally the phone was past over.

"Willow, is everything ok?" Angel asked immediately.

"About as well as to be expected. I was actually calling for some advice on what to do with Spike."

"What's he done?" Angel asked with anger edging his voice.

"He's got Dawn selling the house and the things inside of it and then moving into a small little rundown house close to downtown. Tara is going to be living with Dawn in this new house. Spike is also going to be paying the bills, at least that is what he says but you and I both know he doesn't pay for anything. He's also taken control over the gallery that was Joyce's. I know it all sounds good, but this is Spike we're talking about here. He doesn't do anything out of the goodness of his heart. He's up to something and I'm worried about what will happen to Dawn and Tara."

"Spike always has a scheme playing. He takes advantage of a weak spot and then he manipulates everyone around him into believing he's the good guy. He did it with Buffy and look at where that got her. He can't be trusted. He needs to be killed." Angel said with pure hatred in his voice.

"I would agree, but I can't do anything that could upset Tara or Dawn. They need to be able to trust me. Isn't there a way to run him out of town or something? Something that would be believable and keep our hands innocent?"

"Turn the town against him and he'll leave. He doesn't feel real love, what he feels for Dawn is nothing but smoke and mirrors. He won't put himself through pain or aggravation for her. You turn the town against him and he'll flee like the coward he is."

"How do I turn a town against him?"

"There's the good demon community, but also a bad one. He gets into too many problems with the bad demons then he'll be getting attacked every night. He'll get sick of it a leave after a while. You turn the humans against him by talking to the right people. Sunnydale is small, but there are still gangs within it. You get the gangs to go after him he won't be able to fight back. There is also that Government agency that put the chip in his head. If you make it impossible for him to get blood within town and the next few towns he'll be weaker and he won't heal as fast. Same with sleep. If you keep him busy that he can't even get more than a couple hours of sleep a day he won't heal as fast. Between the lack of blood, sleep and injuries he'll leave." Angel said confidently.

"Ok I'll work on doing all of that then. He should be gone in a couple of weeks then. I might even be able to stop the sell of the house then."

"I'll spread the word down here through the community. Spike's made a lot of enemies over the years. We might even luck out and one of them might kill him."

"Would take care of the problem. I just don't want it to fall back on me. Tara and Dawn really like him and think he cares for them. I don't want to be the one to hurt them ya know?"

"I get it. Someone else will handle it. You work on getting those things set up. Spike will leave on his own or he'll be dust in the wind."

"Thanks Angel."

"It's my pleasure Willow."

Willow ended the call and she couldn't help but smile. She now knew what she needed to do in order to get rid of Spike. She was also going to hack into the real estate's office and postpone the sell of the house. If she could get it to hold off long enough until Spike was taken care of they could move into it and Buffy could move back home once she was brought back. Willow wasn't going to let Spike take anything away from Buffy and she wasn't going to risk him hurting her once she was back. Willow was going to protect her best friend at all costs, no matter what. Spike had to go.


End file.
